


The Future in Our Hands

by SyrinxSilenus



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 35,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25185088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyrinxSilenus/pseuds/SyrinxSilenus
Summary: The Ōtsutsuki clan destroyed all their hard work. Naruto was sealed away, and Sasuke was on his knees – awaiting death. When all hope was gone and the Shinobi world perished: The Sage of The Six Paths appeared, offering a second chance. Will they be able to achieve peace this time around? Or will the demons of the future continue to hunt them no matter what timeline they're in?
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto, Jiraiya/Tsunade (Naruto), Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Nara Shikamaru/Temari, Sai/Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 17
Kudos: 91





	1. Prologue

_**The Future in Our Hands** _

**Written by:** _SyrinxSilenus_

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any Naruto and Boruto characters.

 **A/N:** So I tried my hands with something I had never expected to write. I know that there are already a lot of Time Travel fics out there, but this idea has been lurking in my mind for a month now. So I finally typed it up.

**ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE**

(I'm rating this story **M** just to be safe.)

 **Pairings:** CANON PAIRINGS

 **WARNING:** OP CHARACTERS (I created this fic for my own pleasure so I want to just enjoy writing this the way I wanted. I hate too many complicated things, and I want everything to be easy as much as possible for my characters.)

 **P.S:** For the update on my fics, please check my profile.

 **P.P.S:** A few tweaks in this fic, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki appeared and moved much earlier than in the Boruto series, he battled with Naruto and Sasuke and managed to seal the Nanadaime Hokage when Boruto was 13 years old.

 **Warning:** I haven't finished watching Boruto, just watched up to episode 20 so the following events will only follow the Naruto canon and some Boruto facts that I read. You can all comment facts about Boruto: Next Generations if needed. But I can't promise to follow the canon completely. I hope you'll enjoy my version of Naruto Time Travel.

Without further ado, let's get on with the story!

**EDITED: October 18, 2020**

* * *

_**Prologue:** _

A deep hole of despair tore through the blond hero of the Shinobi World, Uzumaki Naruto; doom and fear had paralyzed him as he peered helplessly out of a bowl-like coffin. He didn't know how the bastard did it, but somehow, even though he was tightly sealed in this dimension; he could still watch as the Ōtsutsuki clan trashed the entire Elemental Nation like a helpless kitten. The Nanadaime Hokage grimaced and clenched his fists.

 _"How did it come to this? After all the hardships we went through, all the deaths, the sacrifices… Why was it still not enough? Why do we need to suffer like this? Is this the fate of all shinobis? To endure torment and die in vain?"_ Naruto thought to himself, crying in anguish.

He wanted to scream; he wanted to thrash; he wanted to release his power, to destroy this — this stupid thing that made him unable to come to his people's aid. Those bastards had reduced the village he loved to nothing. While he, the Nanadaime Hokage; the supposed Kage of their village and the most powerful shinobi alive, remained sealed inside a coffin that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki devised just for him.

Those Ōtsutsuki. They compelled him to watch as his beloved people suffered and perished at the hands of their clan, while he was helplessly impaled by multiple chakra rods. The physical pain wracking his body was nothing compared to watching the massacre before him. How pathetic could he be? He had the power to protect, but here he was – wallowing in self-pity and crying in vain.

 _'I really am still a loser after all this time,'_ he thought bitterly.

Sasuke, his best friend and brother was currently fighting a losing battle; Ōtsutsuki Isshiki had maniacally used him as a mere punching bag. The formidable Uchiha would die soon, and here he was, just watching like a useless piece of shit.

His family: Hinata, Himawari, and Boruto were facing a newly resurrected Momoshiki. The same thing was happening to all of his friends, and he couldn't do anything to help them. The Ōtsutsuki were mercilessly killing every Shinobi in the world, upholding their promise to erase the Shinobi, along with the Ninja system.

_'Is this how it ends? All the fighting and hard work that all of us endured, just to end with this?'_

While agonizing inside the empty dimension, Naruto couldn't help but remember what transpired an hour ago, right before he was sealed.

* * *

_Ōtsutsuki Isshiki loomed over his fallen enemies, regarding them with cold, demeaning eyes._

_"Uzumaki Naruto, with the Kyuubi inside you… I suspect it'll take too much work to kill both you and it. Instead, I've decided that I'll just seal you and your demon fox away," he said, voice dull as his pale hand reached out above the coffin's lid._

_"What the - seal away!?" Naruto could barely comprehend what was being said. He was in agony, the worry and adrenaline coursing through him being the only reason he had not yet succumbed to unconsciousness._

_Isshiki paid him no heed, instead, shifting his attention to the once formidable man who willed the power of the Rinnegan; Uchiha Sasuke, who lay impaled with the same black rods. His steely gaze pierced through the fallen Uchiha, eyes promising merciless torture._

_"Not you, Uchiha Sasuke, you could escape using time-space Ninjutsu. You need to die here and now." Sasuke glared at the man, hatred burning in his onyx eyes while his best friend sputtered blood. He gritted his teeth and forced his body to move, cursing his inability to stand much less fight. His Rinnegan needed rest, it would not activate with his dwindling Chakra – and Sasuke was already at his wit's end._

_"You must've been so busy until now, Nanadaime-sama. Enjoy this brief stay in the pitch-dark I'll leave you in. It'll be your end when we next meet – if you're still alive, that is." The man sneered, voice flat and hard as if the man he spoke to was a pebble while he was a boulder._

_"You better remember those words, 'cause I'm gonna...feed 'em right back at ya!" Naruto yelled, every fiber in his being swearing to kill the bastard in front of him and tear him to shreds._

_Isshiki only scoffed at him before starting to seal him. The black aura of the huge sealing coffin started engulfing the area where Naruto was impaled, and then Isshiki weaved his power to 'shrink' the coffin to trap the Hokage in another dimension, in the middle of nowhere and unable to get out…_

* * *

_'Is this how my life finally ends? Hinata, Himawari, Boruto… and my friends... '_

Naruto wept, wept for the unfairness of it all. He watched as every single shinobi fell down in battle, regardless of their village; he watched as the village he loved, Konohagakure no Sato, was wrecked and blasted into smithereens. He watched as his friends died one by one.

The first to fall was Kiba, then Lee; Shino, Tenten, Karui; Chouji, Gaara, Kankuro and on and on; the list ever-expanding. The parents were crying, their beloved Genins falling onto the blood-soaked earth as they exhaled their last breath.

He watched and watched… and when the pain intensified like no other, threatening to choke him – he blinked, and then suddenly he stood in a white, empty plane. The injuries on his body had miraculously disappeared, only leaving dry blood in its place. Naruto was suddenly reminded of a time, long ago – when the fox within burst forth, coating him in red and healing his wounds.

"Wha-" He whipped his head around. He stood alone in a white, desolate void, not a speck of anything able to be seen.

"Where am I? KURAMA!" He called out, but the fox didn't answer him… and then, he saw him. A person who he hadn't expected to see again after their first meeting in the Fourth Shinobi World War.

"Old-man Sage!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise as the floating figure of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo appeared before him.

 **"Father!"** The Nanadaime Hokage startled at the booming voice that rose behind him. He spun around as the Bijuu that he was searching for had suddenly materialized behind him, slitted eyes never wavering from his father figure.

"There you are, Kurama! Do you know where the hell we are!?" He asked urgently, eyes darting frantically; only to have silence greet him. The fox couldn't speak, his mind still reeling at the sudden appearance of the Legendary Sage that they once thought had ceased to exist.

The Sage of the Six Paths shifted his mighty eyes from the surprised Bijuu to the descendant of his son.

"This is a plane created by me, Ashura's descendant, Uzumaki Naruto. I came to aid you." Naruto perked up at what the Sage had said, eyes hardening in determination.

"I will accept whatever help you can give me, Gramps. The fate of the Shinobi world is at stake, dattebayo!" the blond Hokage resolutely proclaimed, already thinking about the chaos that was happening outside.

The old sage nodded.

"Yes, I am aware of the catastrophe that my clansmen have done to the world, and so I would gladly lend you my aid. However, this will be the last time, young Naruto. There won't be a third time. For once I have aided you now, my presence will dissipate and be lost in this place for eternity. I will bestow upon you the rest of my power, and you will become the only Jinchuriki living in the world." Naruto sputtered, not comprehending what the old man was saying.

 **"Father… "** Kurama's voice grumbled, laced with uncharacteristic worry.

"Do not be afraid, my child. My time on this plane had ended a long time ago. My soul has no business in the world of the living now."

"Old-man Sage..." Naruto murmured.

"Now, now, we don't have time for this. Many people are dying. I will now explain to you what needs to be done."

Naruto and Kurama glanced at each other before nodding.

"I will send you back in time together with the people who still live in your ninja generation. However, I cannot send many people with you, so whoever your clone grabs, those are the only people I can send with you to the past."

Naruto gaped at him.

"T-Time Travel… can we really do that?" He murmured in disbelief. He knew that Sasuke traveled to the past with his son, but it wasn't permanent. They weren't allowed to stay because they didn't belong there.

 **"Brat. You're talking to the legendary sage. Of course, it's possible,"** Kurama grumbled, a grin had replaced his earlier solemn expression. Naruto stared at the Sage with awe and waited for an explanation.

"Yes, young Naruto, just like what Kurama had said. I can send you back in time to redo everything from scratch. However, this will be permanent – no turning back, and no coming back to this future. There are also consequences in coming back to the past," the sage stated as he looked directly at the thirty-four-year-old Kage.

"A person with the same soul cannot stay in the same timeline. So you need to know that when you finally meet with your past self, the two of you will merge after a few hours of making contact." The blond Hokage opened and closed his mouth as he listened to the explanation.

"B-but…..are we going to lose our powers?" he questioned, brow creasing in worry, _'So I need to start from scratch again?'_

The sage hummed before answering, "No, I told you, you will be the only Jinchūriki in the world, and that will never change unless you die and choose to transfer the power of the Bijuu to your descendant, or perish with the Bijuu sealed away with your soul. The choice is yours."

Naruto's stance straightened and seriousness gleamed in his cerulean eyes. He didn't know what he would do when that time comes, but he knew that he would eventually figure it out.

Hagoromo nodded in satisfaction at what he saw and continued his explanation.

"When I transfer my power to you, my knowledge will pass on to you, too; and through a chakra connection – the same thing will happen to your companions. However, you will put a seal on your powers and your companions' before merging with yourselves. Your younger bodies cannot handle the amount of chakra that will flood your bodies. The seal, however, will gradually let your bodies adjust with your chakra, and the only thing that you will need to hone is your physical strength - control and power won't be a problem."

Naruto nodded at what the old sage had explained and quietly absorbed all the information he had heard. He was glad that he at least wouldn't need to relearn all of his jutsus and control. That would be a pain in the ass, but considering that he would be a toddler and hitting puberty all over again—Naruto stopped his train of thoughts. He would worry about that later.

"Well then, descendant of Ashura, Uzumaki Naruto. You have a mission to fulfill. This is the last time. Farewell, I hope you succeed – the future is in your hands." As the ultimate words were being said, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo slowly dissolved from existence, never to grace the earth again as his power and essence went inside the Nanadaime Hokage's body.

* * *

Inside the corpse of Killer Bee, the darkness that was slowly engulfing the Hachibi suddenly disappeared. One moment he was mourning the loss of his favorite Jinchuriki – ready to accept his fate; then the next moment, he blinked and reappeared inside a very familiar mindscape.

Gyuki blinked in bewilderment, staring at a single spot for a few seconds before he shifted his eyes around the familiar plane to see his other Bijuu brothers – sitting in a circle.

The Ichibi no Shukaku, Nibi no Bakeneko – Matatabi, Sanbi no Kyodaigame – Isobu, Seiten Taisei – Son Gokū, Gobi – Kokuo, Rokubi – Saiken, Rakkī Sebun – Chōmei, and finally; the Kyuubi no Kitsune – Kurama.

 **"Yo, Gyuki, you're late!"** Son Goku greeted enthusiastically; which Gyuki promptly ignored. Instead, he stared at Kurama intently, his majestic eyes never wavering as he dug an imaginary hole in the orange fur of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

The Kyuubi, upon feeling the intense gaze, pointed towards him, flicked his eyes to the Hachibi, who was staring at the giant fox as if in accusation.

 **"Why are you staring at me!?"** The fox snapped in irritation as he glared at the giant ox.

 **"This bizarre phenomenon smells like your Jinchuriki's doing, Kurama,"** Gyuki deadpanned, and the rest of the Bijuu nodded in affirmation. The fox scoffed and grumbled complaints under his breath before sighing and decided to speak.

 **"Alright, I'll explain the situation,"** Kurama's voice boomed inside the mindscape and all the Bijuu looked at him expectantly. The Kyuubi then started retelling one of the strangest things that had ever happened to him and his favorite Jinchūriki, to his fellow Bijuu.

* * *

Sasuke's blood dripped on the ground as he glared at the man who destroyed everything they persevered to protect. His crimson and purple eyes were flashing with hatred.

All his sacrifices: him enduring the pain of leaving his family behind, unable to watch his only daughter grow up to be the amazing Kunoichi that she was now, suffering so many cold nights without the soothing presence of his wife for seven years – just to get rid of the threat that was looming over them from Kaguya's dimension and clansmen. All of those efforts and sacrifices were all proved to be in vain – because his worst nightmare, the one that they had so desperately been trying to avoid had unfolded before his eyes.

"Farewell, Uchiha Sasuke…" Ōtsutsuki Isshiki grinned maniacally as he held out his palm and readied a deadly attack, one that would blot out the formidable Uchiha forever. But just as Isshiki was preparing to release the attack, the most bizarre and unexplainable thing happened.

A flash of bright, golden light flickered into existence beside the Uchiha, grabbing the bloodied body before flickering out of sight without a single word; not even giving the incredulous Ōtsutsuki a single glance.

Isshiki blinked in disbelief, shock parting his lips as he tried to comprehend what had just transpired. Then fury overcame him.

Anger consumed his entire being. His eyes grew bloodshot, threatening to bulge out of their sockets, and his heart pulsed in his ears and through the veins on his forehead.

Then he screamed in unadulterated rage.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

* * *

Uchiha Sakura raced towards her daughter in desperation. Her sandal-clad feet scraped carelessly on the blood-filled earth, as she jumped towards her daughter.

"SARADA!" The medic screamed.

She pushed her daughter out of the way of incoming chakra bullets, slamming into her side like a bull. Sarada flew into the grass nearby. Sakura shot chakra into her legs, skidding to a halt, her sandals preventing a collision with a familiar ruin, their previous home.

Sarada slowly picked herself up from the dirt, gazing at her mother in shock. The spinning black and red of her newly acquired Mangekyō Sharingan stared wildly at the disaster surrounding them. The village was literally reduced to smithereens.

The Uchiha Matriarch stood tall in front of her formidable foe. Her Byakugou seal was surrounding her body as the center point of her power glowed in bright pink color. Her eyes were not showing the slightest amount of fear as she cocked an arm back and threw a devastating punch to the ground.

The earth quaked and caved in from the brute force of the punch, creating a powerful wave of boulders that rushed towards another member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, the resurrected Kinshiki.

The white figure didn't hesitate to fire, the two forces instantly colliding. A colossal explosion followed, engulfing the entire area.

Kinshiki floated in the air, waiting for the smoke to dissipate, leaving nothing but earth and dust. He smirked, satisfied at the result; unaware of the golden flash that had whisked the mother and daughter away and flickered out of existence as it completed its task.

* * *

Inojin and Shikadai ran as if the apocalypse was literally upon them. Trepidation was visible in their pale faces as they each looked for their respective parents in the ruins of their village.

There were explosions from afar as they ran, creating a few vibrations here and there; but they ignored them. Their sandal-clad feet were dirty and mixed with blood. The same thing happened to their clothes, comparable more to linen scraps than actual clothing. The two boys had seen better days, but all of those shortcomings were ignored by them as they desperately shouted their parents' names, hoping to hear an answer behind the scattered debris and broken establishments surrounding them.

They couldn't comprehend what had happened to their beloved village. One moment, the two of them, together with their other male classmates, were waiting for Boruto at the outskirts of Konoha's forest to later play video games together.

Then suddenly, a powerful ball of energy landed near them and detonated instantly, immediately killing Metal Lee, Denki, Iwabee, Mitsuki, and their other classmates. The only reason Shikadai and Inojin survived was because of the huge boulder that the two of them were using as leverage to doze off. However, the two teenagers lost their consciousness after the initial explosion. When they woke up, this was the image that greeted them.

They pushed their tired legs to run, trying their best to ignore all the dead bodies of the Konoha citizens that they ran past.

In the middle of their run, a massive earthquake sent the two of them tumbling to the ground. Picking themselves from the ground and spitting out dirt, they rubbed the dust out of their eyes and lifted their blurry gazes to the ruined establishments around them. Two pairs of eyes immediately widened with fear as they saw the boulder threatening to fall, and they slumped in helplessness as they covered their heads from the collapsing building.

They screamed at the top of their lungs as tears of trepidation and desperation rolled down their cheeks, unable to do anything but to accept their impending doom.

Right before they were flattened by the collapsing rubble though, they were unexpectedly whisked away by two golden clones.

* * *

Uzumaki Hinata hugged her eleven-year-old daughter to her chest as she deflected the fatal attack that Momoshiki fired towards her daughter using Kaiten. Her son, Boruto stood beside them and glared up towards the very much alive Momoshiki. The pale man was floating in the air, staring at the three of them emotionlessly.

"How are you alive, dattebasa!?" Boruto yelled, face contorting with anger. The person in question, however, laughed mockingly.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out! But you will be dead in the next few seconds, so you shouldn't bother yourself!" the insane creature exclaimed as he aimed an attack towards the Uzumaki family.

Boruto readied his Rasengan in a futile attempt to protect his mother and sister – but before the attack happened, Uzumaki Naruto suddenly appeared in a flash of bright golden chakra.

"Dad!" Boruto screamed in surprise as young Himawari cried out for her daddy.

"Naruto!" Hinata exclaimed happily, hope surging through her as the protective warmth of her husband's arms enveloped her.

Naruto carried her as the clone grabbed their children. The kids immediately clung to their father, eagerly seeking protection in the comforting power of their father.

"Damn you, Uzumaki Naruto! You're supposed to be dead!" the Ōtsutsuki raged, readying another attack to fire, but he only caught a glimpse of the Nanadaime's smirking face before the family of four blinked out of existence.

* * *

In the war-torn village, a few important figures vanished with a bright golden shroud of chakra grasping them before they met their impending doom: Senju Tsunade, Hatake Kakashi, Nara Shikamaru and Temari, Yamanaka Ino, and lastly her injured husband, Sai.

All these people vanished in a flash, never to be seen again as the future timeline exploded and disappeared from existence alongside the members of the Ōtsutsuki clan.

* * *

Fourteen people were gathered in the area, holding their aching heads as a few grunts and groans echoed around the forest.

"W-what happened?" Uchiha Sarada asked, disoriented. She blinked twice to clear her blurry, onyx eyes. A few voices echoed the same question before the parents snapped out of their daze and fussed over their respective children.

"Sarada, are you okay?" Sakura fretted as she checked her daughter for injuries, but aside from a few scratches, she was unharmed. The worried mother sighed in relief.

"Mom!" Shikadai and Inojin screamed as they attacked their mothers in a tight hug, crying earnestly as they finally felt the soothing feeling of their mothers' warmth.

Temari and Ino clutched their respective sons to themselves, crying in relief at seeing them alive after witnessing so many dead loved ones, and Shikamaru enveloped his wife and son in a much-needed hug as they basked in each other's warmth.

"Baachan, Sakura-chan, I need your help." Naruto's voice snapped them all out of their fleeting relief.

The two medics snapped their heads towards the serious voice of their Kage, and there stood two bright clones, carrying the two barely conscious figures of Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Sai.

"Sai!" Ino exclaimed in alarm at seeing her husband's poor condition.

"Anata!" Sakura worriedly called out and was beside her blond teammate in no time, Tsunade following not far behind her.

Without question, the medics worked their magic; immediately healing the bruised bodies of the two men.

Sasuke grunted as the pain in his body disappeared under the comforting power of his wife's chakra. He let out a shaky breath, succumbing to the familiar warmth that surrounded his body. He laid there and felt his heart rate begin to slow down, his body gradually relaxing. A few minutes later, he sat up and looked at the back of his best friend, belatedly realizing the new golden cloak of their Kage.

The previous pajama-like chakra-cloak of the Nanadaime Hokage was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was replaced by a long, bright golden cloak resembling his second stage chakra cloak's appearance and his father's own Hokage cloak. The Truth-Seeking orbs that he had previously lost in the Fourth Shinobi war had returned on his back, and the black staff of the Six Paths Shakujo was held securely in his right hand. His distinctly short hair seemed longer than before, resembling the Yondaime Hokage's golden locks.

"Naruto…what happened? How did you escape the sealed coffin? And where are we?" Sasuke mumbled out rapidly. His Sharingan and Rinnegan flitted around as he took in his new surroundings. A subtle crease of unease appeared on his brow as he stared at the silent man. The rest also quietly stared at their Kage, waiting for an answer.

"Naruto?" Tsunade asked, brow furrowing worriedly at the uncharacteristic silence of the man she'd known since he was still a snotty twelve-year-old brat.

The Nanadaime Hokage's chakra-cloak suddenly disappeared, together with his staff and the Truth-Seeking Orbs, and he finally turned to stare at the rescued shinobi.

He looked a bit different from before. Maybe it was the sudden change of his normally short blond locks that danced lightly in the wind, but his resemblance to the deceased Yondaime Hokage was much more evident with his current, changed appearance.

Cerulean eyes were sparkling with power, effortlessly exuding a powerful presence even as he stood there silently. The remaining survivors of the war-torn future couldn't help but stare in awe at their Hokage.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening… I was talking to the Tailed Beasts just now," he said as he let out an exhausted smile.

"What do you mean by 'Tailed Beasts'?" Temari asked suspiciously, noting the plural term the blond Kage used to address his supposed only Bijuu.

The blond woman was quite confused and still a little bit dazed by the sudden change of scenery and atmosphere that surrounded them. She took note of the quiet forest, the bright clear sky, and the absence of the previous explosions that signified the Ōtsutsuki clan's havoc. Naruto opened his mouth to answer her question, but someone called out to him.

"Naruto?" This time it was his wife, Hinata, who worriedly reached out for him. He walked towards her and wrapped an arm around her waist, rubbing his hand soothingly on his wife's back.

"Don't worry, Hinata. Everything is fine. I'm just checking out the exact timeline we landed into." At his answer, everyone had a questioning look on their faces, except for the three people in the room who immediately realized the implications.

Shikamaru and the former Rokudaime Hokage – Kakashi, simultaneously face palmed while Sasuke's eyes widened in realization; inwardly sighing in exasperation as he shook his head at his best friend's luck as if silently saying, 'Only you, Naruto… '

"Yep, we're in the past," Naruto said, smiling wryly at his friends' facial expressions, before bracing himself for the impending exclamations of...

"WHAT?"

Well, what could he say? This was an obvious declaration of his title as _'The Most Unpredictable Ninja in all the Elemental Nation'_.

And this was also the start of a fresh adventure, to save the world from eternal damnation. To protect the dreams and future of the many people living in this world.

From here on out, the future was in their hands...

* * *

 **A/N:** Aaaand that's a wrap! I would like to give my sincerest gratitude to all the people who helped me with this fic. Your insights and suggestions helped me a lot and this story would only be a pile of junk if it weren't for your help.

Here are my awesome betas!

_**Gheloured** _

_**Kurupira** _

_**MiloOfTheKey** _

_**Hotarubushi** _

_**GG Anime** _

_**Akaichi-rin** _

_**Hakon2feb** _

_**Regalithy** _

They are all awesome writers! Check out their profiles!

**REVIEWS!**

**P. S:** I only accept constructive criticism, if you have issues with my story, feel free to drop it. I just want to do this for my own entertainment.

CHECK MY PROFILE FOR ALL OF MY STORIES' UPDATE! I'm always online so I can also answer PMs immediately.

* * *

_**SyrinxSilenus** _


	2. Chapter 1: Eternal Seal

**A/N:** I would like to thank all the people who read, followed and put this story on their favorite. I appreciate the reviews. Thank you so much for your loving support. Before going to the chapter, I would like to clarify that I changed the timeline here a bit so don't get confused. The Third Shinobi War is over here, ended by the Yellow Flash himself. (Will be explained in chapter 3)

Before going to the chapter, I would like to thank my awesome betas!

_**Gheloured** _

_**Kurupira** _

_**MiloOfTheKey** _

_**Hotarubushi** _

_**GG Anime** _

_**Akaichi-rin** _

_**Hakon2feb** _

_**Regalithy** _

Thank you for being patient with me. Your advice, comments, and suggestions always motivated me to be better and do better.

 **WARNING** : PLOT CREATED FOR MY OWN ENTERTAINMENT. JUST BEING HAPPY TO SHARE :)

That's it! Here's Chapter 1, enjoy!

**EDITED: October 18, 2020**

* * *

_**The Future in Our Hands** _

_**Chapter 1: Eternal Seal** _

"So you're saying that… "

"The Sage of the Six Paths gave you a second chance to redo everything from scratch?" Tsunade finished for her former student, as the pink-haired girl looked like her brain had been ground into dust.

Naruto nodded after he finished explaining everything to them. He told them everything that happened: from his and Sasuke's battle with Ōtsutsuki Isshiki to him being sealed inside a bowl-like coffin and watching as the Shinobi world was destroyed, all the way to his meeting with the Sage of the Six Paths again, along with the time travel agreement.

"You're the only people I could drag with me into the past. Aside from you guys, all of the remaining teams of the Konoha-12 are dead, same with the other Kage and our other allies. The future timeline that we were previously living in was obliterated as soon as I activated the jutsu," the blonde Hokage added seriously, and the survivors remained silent as understanding dawned on them, before Ino started crying.

"Then, Choji and the others?" Ino choked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her already sobbing son and Sai encircled his arms around his little family, feeling thankful for how lucky they were to still be together.

He had no family growing up aside from his brother, Shin. Considering everything that had been ripped away from him from the start, it was a miracle to still have his family with him now.

Sarada silently cried as the image of Chouchou's dead body flooded her thoughts. As much as she hated to admit it, it had been her fault. She wasn't strong enough, and her best friend had no choice but to jump in and take the attack in her place. It awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan, but she didn't want them. Not if it cost Chouchou's life.

Sakura and Sasuke hugged their daughter silently, grief evident in their eyes as they looked at her pained expression. They understood how hard it was for Sarada to lose her friends and her home; they had experienced the same, too. For Sasuke, when his entire family was massacred by his own brother. For Sakura, when Pain attacked and destroyed Konoha, and when the devastating Fourth Shinobi War happened.

It pained them to see their daughter experiencing the same pain as they had before, especially when they tried their best to prevent the trauma and hardship they experienced from being laid upon the next generation's shoulders as well, but they failed miserably. Instead, their children had suffered worse than what they experienced as teenagers. The two parents shared a glance, and they immediately understood each other's sentiment.

Regardless of what happened, they still wanted to look on the bright side. They were still together, and somehow, they were given another chance to change all the horrors they had experienced in their youth. Naruto was truly a miracle worker, and they couldn't thank him enough.

Sasuke inhaled the scent of his wife and daughter; although they lost their home, he still felt grateful that they were still there, that he could still touch them, that he could comfort them with each breath they took.

He couldn't imagine losing any of them there. When the attack happened, he and Naruto had fought their assumed leader and realized too late that the other resurrected members of the Ōtsutsuki clan went to invade and destroy each of the Hidden Villages.

He wasn't even aware that he almost lost his daughter, now aware that his daughter had just experienced her best friend dying in front of her, taking the deadly blow that was supposed to be hers.

With these frightening thoughts running through his mind, he unconsciously tightened his hold around his family, reminding himself that they were here with him, safe and alive.

Temari clutched her only son to herself, letting out a strangled sob as she thought of her dead brothers.

Gaara died protecting their village, that was for sure, but it was still for nothing. Suna was still obliterated, and Kankuro… he was visiting her in Konoha when the attack happened; he died protecting her husband from a powerful attack.

"Kankuro, Gaara..." she choked out as tears continuously rolled down her face. Her heartfelt like it was being torn to pieces.

She then thought of her son, Shikadai. She wasn't aware of where he had been at that time. Before they were whisked away by the Nanadaime Hokage, she and her husband were in a traumatized stupor upon witnessing Kankuro's death, who died just a few feet away from her as she was running towards her husband to shield him herself from the incoming attack – she was already wrecked.

She didn't know what she would have done if Shikadai was killed while she was mourning her brother's death, if her husband was not here, together with her right now. She would lose her mind.

Right now, Shikamaru and Shikadai were the only pillars she had: if she were to lose any of the two, she would not be capable of spending more time in this world. She knew the bitter taste of loneliness all too well.

Shikamaru's face turned mournful, already familiar with the feeling of loss. He lost Chouji too, and he hadn't even had a single idea of when he had died. He was feeling cold already when Kankuro jumped in front of him to shield him from the attack. He was a fool, sitting there like a deer caught in headlights. He had experienced so much loss, too many loved ones had died. But if he had also lost his family, Temari and Shikadai… he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

Shikamaru circled his family, succumbing to their warmth, their steady breathing barely audible. They were alive.

 _'Now is not the time to wallow in self-pity. I need to be strong, for my remaining family,'_ he thought as he wrapped them in a tight embrace, grateful that he was still alive and together with them.

Briefly, he and Ino exchanged glances: they were the only remaining members of Team 10, their once formidable team of four reduced to two. It was tragic.

Naruto was surrounded by his family and friends, and he couldn't be more thankful. He still grieved for his other friends who died, as well as his village. He was the Hokage after all. They had another chance now, and he didn't plan on wasting it.

He had a mission, and he swore on the bodies of his deceased friends, that he would do anything possible, anything in his power, to make the future a brighter place, to make it better. He had to plan, there were already things to get done and he knew that he was not alone; but for now, he would bask in the warm feeling of his family. Alive and breathing in his arms.

Tsunade and Kakashi stared at them mournfully, a familiar twinge of pain twisting inside their chest as the families mourned their lost comrades and home.

Tsunade herself was mourning. After all, she just lost Shizune, the final connection she had with her deceased fiancé, Dan. She had lost everything, and the only family she had right now were Naruto, Sakura, and their kids. They were like her grandchildren. While she had treated Naruto and Sakura as her own, their children extended the same connection. They were the only people that kept her sane after all the horrors they had experienced.

Kakashi, too, just lost another one of his best friends. Gai… even though he was already crippled, he still fought. He fought to protect their beloved village.

Maito Gai was truly a splendid Shinobi, the best example of Konoha's greatest heroes.

Kakashi was just lucky that the remaining family he had...his Genins, his kids, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were still alive, and so were their kids, whom he treated as his own grandchildren: Boruto, Himawari, and Sarada.

He couldn't have been more grateful that his team was composed of powerhouses. Just looking at the other teams: Team 10 was reduced to two members, with Team 8, Hinata was the only survivor, Team 9 had no members left at all. Kakashi couldn't thank the high heavens enough that his team was still alive and complete. He could probably say that he was one lucky man.

"Naruto…" The blond man looked up and saw his friends huddled with their families.

"Thank you so much," Ino said sincerely, echoed by Sakura and Temari. The rest stared at him in gratitude, and he smiled at his friends.

"Don't thank me yet, we still have a mission to fulfill," he said seriously, and his friends solemnly stared at him and nodded.

"First things first, let's recover. Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, you're going with me. We need to find out what date today is and somehow find food for everyone to eat." Everyone nodded at the command. Kakashi and Sasuke immediately agreed.

Naruto walked towards his wife and murmured something in her ears. Her eyes widened as her husband looked at her seriously. She stared up at her love's cerulean eyes, and her pale orbs were immediately filled with determination.

She nodded at her husband and grasped his hand with hers. The blond smiled at Hinata before they walked towards their other companions. Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and Kakashi put his on the former before they shunshin away.

Sakura and Ino looked at each other with "question" written all over their faces. They didn't understand why Hinata needed to go with them but in the end, they just shrugged and proceeded to take care of the kids.

* * *

"Where are we going Naruto? This isn't the way to the nearest village." Kakashi finally asked after following their blond leader in silence. It might have been years since he last saw this part of the forest in the Fire country but he knew this place more than anyone else here.

"...and why did you bring Hinata?" Sasuke questioned with a quirked eyebrow.

The Nanadaime Hokage abruptly stopped, followed suit by Hinata who was still holding his hand. Sasuke looked at him curiously, not understanding what his teammate had wanted to do. The blond looked at his sensei and best friend solemnly.

"We are not really going to the nearest village. We are going to put a seal on the moon, but before we seal it completely; we need to destroy the energy vessel that the Ōtsutsuki branch family had accumulated for years, and for us to do that we needed a descendant of Otsutsuki Hamura, and that is Hinata." he paused to look at his wife and she nodded at the two men in front of her.

"She's the only one capable of finding the hidden place where the energy vessel is hidden, and in order to destroy it; we needed the power that Hamura transferred to her before. After that, Hinata can finally return to the camp, while the three of us teleport to the first God's tree in the Sage's memory that he shared with me to seal Kaguya's dimension, for eternity," Naruto proclaimed, looking straight at his former Sensei and teammate. With the sudden, bizarre revelation, the two men blinked at their Hokage in bewilderment.

"...is that even possible? Sealing Kaguya's dimensions?" Sasuke asked with a frown, and Naruto nodded.

"It's possible, dattebayo! After old-man sage transferred all his powers, knowledge, and essence to me. The same thing happened to the rest of you, although you only have a small portion of the Sage's power. You probably feel the sudden power boost in your chakra system," the three of them solemnly nodded as he eyed them for confirmation.

"I came to understand a lot of things, and my proficiency with Fuinjitsu became… ah, let's just say that I could be the Seal Master of all Seal Masters," he replied with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck as he laughed.

It was not that Naruto hadn't studied Fuinjutsu, that was his clan's specialty. But acquiring the legendary Sage's knowledge amplified his comprehension and grasp with Fuinjutsu, and that would help him.

Since he sealed all the Fuinjutsu scrolls he found in his mother's homeland in his arms, and his father's scrolls too before disappearing in their previous timeline; he was planning on learning them all, and for that, he needed all the knowledge and power he could get, especially with what they were about to do.

Hinata smiled at her husband, proud of what he had accomplished all over the years. She wasn't at all surprised at the things he had done. She had believed in him from the start, and her belief never wavered in their years of marriage. In fact, she now admired him more than before, so she wasn't at all that surprised, but she was still astonished and in awe at her husband's prowess.

Both mentor and former Uchiha student stared at each other before they sighed, they weren't really surprised either after what the blond just did not an hour ago. He successfully defied time and space, and he had escaped the impossible, namely the coffin he was sealed into, adding to the fact that his luck was mind-boggling as well.

For some reason, the blond had always managed to get away from any bizarre situation he was in and always ended up being saved by unfathomable means. He could turn a bad situation into something so arbitrary – mainly complete-time travel and the absolute power to turn the future around to their favor. The two men, already too used to how their Hokage worked, could only sigh and follow through with their unpredictable blond leader.

"Maa...Only you, Naruto, can do something so impossible, " Kakashi exasperatedly yet fondly said.

"Bizarre things always happen when you're around, Naruto," Sasuke said, lips quirked up.

Naruto laughed again before his previously sheepish face turned serious. His Hokage face. He formed quick hand seals, bit his thumb, and slammed his palm on his arm. Instantly, a summoning array appeared on the skin of his unbandaged limb, and with a poof of smoke, a large scroll appeared.

His wife and their two companions huddled around him to look curiously at the scroll in his hand.

"Here is the seal," he gestured his hand to the very intricate seal in the scroll that looked impossible to replicate.

All the lines were connected to each other, and the little symbols around the seal were like pillars for the seal to be intact and able to activate. Each line and symbol represented unique abilities. In the middle, the kanji emphasized the need for Senjutsu chakra to activate. The unique symbol for the Yin-Yang release was also distinct, and it also indicated all the elemental affinities. In short, the seal looked impossible to activate. But they were talking about Naruto and Sasuke here, so the most dangerous Fuinjutsu seal invented and designed by the Sage of Six Paths looked like a mere toy for Sasuke and Naruto to wield.

"This is a very complex seal that needs three Kage-level Shinobi to activate, and ah, two special individuals," He cleared his throat as Kakashi and Sasuke deadpanned at him.

Leave it to Naruto to make a very impossible task seem mundane just with the way he said it. All of them knew that it didn't just need three Kage-level Shinobi to activate the seal. This seal clearly required Naruto and Sasuke to be present.

"Sooo, what we will do is this. First, Sasuke, you need to teleport us to the moon using your Rinnegan. Then You, me and Hinata will go inside the Ōtsutsuki's lair to destroy the energy vessel. After that, we will completely seal the moon, forever."

He looked at his companions who nodded at him, "To make sure that Kaguya cannot be summoned again, we need to destroy the Gedo Mazo statue and kill Black Zetsu and all the White Zetsus. Then we are going to the first God's tree in the old man sage's memory. It's the main entrance and beacon for Kaguya's dimension to open here on Earth. We need to destroy the tree and seal the entrance. Then we will seal the whole dimension forever, that way, not even your Rinnegan will be able to enter it, Sasuke."

Kakashi and Sasuke absorbed the information quietly and nodded in understanding. While Hinata just listened attentively, she already knew what her role would be, and that was what she needed to focus on.

"I will use my clone to find food and clothing for the others and to find out the date while we complete the mission," Naruto stated as he summoned fifty clones and used Henge to disguise their identity. The clones scattered as soon as they were summoned, and the three Kage Shinobi and Uzumaki Hinata proceeded to start their mission.

* * *

They floated in space and stared at the young child who looked around ten-years-old. He was the first one who immediately sensed them upon their arrival to the moon, and that was disturbing.

His sensory abilities might rival Naruto's even at such a young age. Considering that he was blind, it was an impressive feat for him to greet them alone and not to call for his remaining clan members. Or maybe it was just arrogance.

Naruto didn't know how many Otsutsuki branch members were still alive at this time, but he knew that it wasn't only him who was supposed to be here. But he would take advantage of this situation to immediately seal them all.

"Sasuke, leave a clone here, we'll move forward," The Nanadaime murmured so softly that the addressed Uchiha barely heard it, but he nodded nonetheless. Naruto squeezed his wife's hand and Hinata nodded in understanding. They needed to wait for an opportunity to slip away.

He had two clones that held Kakashi and Sasuke to float, while the original held Hinata, as the four of them looked at the youthful version of Ōtsutsuki Toneri, Hamura's descendant. He may look younger, but Naruto and his wife would never forget that face.

"I was wondering why the Sage's soul and presence who was guarding the world disappeared and reappeared differently…" Toneri quietly said as he curiously analyzed the four figures in front of him with his sensing abilities, lingering for a few seconds on the feminine chakra he was feeling. She felt familiar; somehow, the woman felt the same as his clan's men.

Toneri may be blind, but he had learned to hone his senses as a substitute for his eyes. After his eyes were sealed in the energy vessel, he had honed his sensory ability to its finest to cope with his lost eyesight; fighting without his eyes was not a hindrance to him.

"Ōtsutsuki Toneri, I'm sorry, but to protect the Shinobi world, your clan needs to be sealed forever," Naruto, who was once again surrounded by his Golden-cloak said as he stepped in front of the man, hiding his wife with two more clones as they floated using a reshaped version of the Truth-Seeking orb. Hinata was standing on a flat disk as the clones hid her from Toneri. In a moment, she would leave a clone and proceed to the next plan.

If Toneri wondered how the blond knew his name, he didn't question it, but he quietly assessed the four of them and shifted his stance directly towards the powerful presence he was feeling. Strong, these people were so strong – maybe stronger than him, but he also wasn't a pushover.

"Then fighting you is inevitable," As soon as he said this, Naruto and Sasuke flickered out of sight. And then, his instinct started screaming at him to move.

He immediately heeded his instinct and jumped away from his previous position, boosting chakra on the sole of his feet to propel him further. That was also the exact moment for a current of electricity to be charged by the raven-haired Shinobi. Barely managing to escape being electrocuted, Toneri bounded up a piece of debris. If he still had his eyes, he would've glared at the Uchiha. And with that, the fight on the moon started.

Unknown to Toneri, he was fighting only clones, and the only original left with him was Hatake Kakashi, the former Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha.

* * *

Inside the Ōtsutsuki base, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke stealthily concealed themselves and were able to find the passage towards the energy vessel that Naruto and Hinata destroyed a long time ago.

Using Hinata's memory, Sasuke managed to teleport them directly in front of the barrier, and Hinata proceeded to guide them inside; for the only one who could disperse the barrier was a descendant of Hamura, and that was Hinata. She also still had the chakra that Hamura had given to her, so it wouldn't be a problem for her to destroy the energy vessel again. And now, as the three of them stood in front of the vessel, another bizarre thing happened.

Ōtsutsuki Hamura's spirit suddenly appeared before them. His translucent body was standing in front of the vessel like a guardian.

"Ahh, did my brother send you here?" Hamura's floating and translucent spirit asked as he stared at each of them. Hinata fiercely stepped forward to acknowledge the spirit's presence, unbothered by his appearance.

"Yes, in order to save the Shinobi world, we are tasked to redo everything and seal the Otsutsuki clan forever," Hinata answered strongly and Hamura stared at her for a few seconds, eyes widening when he felt his own power lingering inside her. Then, a smile quirked on his lips, eyes softening in understanding.

"Looks like I trusted you with my power in the future too… " He said with a smile. He walked towards the woman, and the two Godlike Shinobi watched like hawks as the spirit's hand laid on top of Hinata's head.

"Then I will trust you again with all of my remaining power and essence," The spirit said as he transferred everything in him towards Uzumaki Hinata. And right then and there, Ōtsutsuki Hamura slowly disintegrated into thin air, vanishing for all eternity.

It was quiet for a couple of seconds until Naruto put a hand on the small of his wife's back and guided her right in front of the energy vessel, Sasuke following after the couple and the three stood side by side at the glowing vessel.

They didn't need more prompting as they proceeded to destroy the energy vessel together. Combining all their Yin and Yang chakra with Hinata leading them, they had successfully obliterated the vessel into nothingness.

* * *

Meanwhile, the fight outside the moon continued. Toneri, who was not even aware that their protected energy vessel was already destroyed, was busy with fighting the powerful Uchiha.

Sasuke's clone danced around, using his sword as electricity crackled around the blade, swinging and striking in a blur of speed.

Toneri dodged every attack with practiced ease and landed a powerful kick on the clone's chest and used it as leverage to put distance between them.

The clone exploded and another one took its place. Sasuke left two clones in case one was dismissed. He could have created more, but for now, he couldn't afford to waste his chakra, so he only left two clones. He trusted his former Sensei and Naruto's clones to take care of the rest.

Toneri landed not far from the new clone. He held out his hands, and green orbs manifested around him and he started attacking relentlessly.

Sasuke's Rinnegan flashed, and he teleported behind Toneri.

 **"Raikiri,"** He mumbled under his breath and the electricity sizzled from his blade before striking towards the pale boy. However, said boy flickered out of sight before the attack could hit him.

"You're not the only one who can teleport," Toneri smugly said as he dodged another of Sasuke's attacks.

He summoned three glowing green orbs around him, ready to fire them at the raven-haired man. But startled at the sudden whisper of, _"_ _ **Chidori"**_ behind him, and his eyes widened when he realized that he had let his guard down on the silver-haired Shinobi, who was only watching the battle – until now.

He barely managed to teleport away from the forgotten man's attack, but that put him exactly where Naruto wanted him to stand – directly in front of the moon.

The original Nanadaime, who switched with his clone right after they successfully destroyed the energy vessel, immediately threw four chakra rods as soon as Toneri reappeared again – thus the boy didn't realize that he just stepped into a trap. The chakra rods made contact and he was impaled on the moon's surface.

Naruto didn't waste time; as soon as he threw the chakra rods, his hands were already moving to make the hand signs for the seal. When the final sign was made, he activated it.

This was when three other members of the branch family appeared and were shocked at what they saw.

"TONERI!" They screamed in alarm, but Naruto's clones had immediately impaled them with chakra rods and they were rendered immobile, struggling to break free from them.

The original Sasuke and Hinata also appeared. Not wasting any more time, the Uchiha teleported them with Kakashi beside Naruto, who had a hand held out as a kanji for Seal burned in his palm. The scroll where the most impossible seal to grace the world was floating in front of the blond as it glowed with power.

Hinata and the two men bit their thumbs and smeared blood on the back of the blond's palm, putting their hands on top of each other as they summoned their chakra.

Hinata used the power that Ōtsutsuki Hamura had given her to complete the most powerful seal ever manifested in the Shinobi world. Naruto closed his eyes and activated Senjutsu to further strengthen the seal.

**"Fuinjutsu: Ein no Shiru!"**

A powerful chakra engulfed the moon, roots sprouting out from the ground and latching onto every remaining Ōtsutsuki branch members inside the lair, surrounding their bodies with its root until they were devoured by a giant tree that slowly enlarged as it sucked the chakra from their bodies. Without being able to fight, eternal sleep embraced the last of the Ōtsutsuki branch family as the moon was finally sealed forever.

* * *

After making sure that their work was done, Sasuke teleported them back to Earth. All of them didn't even look winded by all the excitement that ensued.

When they teleported back to the Earth, Naruto kissed his wife's forehead and summoned a clone.

"Watch over the children, dear. And tell the others that we are just taking care of something," he said as he smiled softly at his wife. Hinata hugged him once before letting go.

"Be careful, dear, we'll wait for you. You too Kakashi-sama, Sasuke-san," She looked at each of the men in front of her who nodded at her. Kakashi with his famous eye smile and Sasuke with a little smile quirking his lips.

"Tell my wife not to worry," The Uchiha said and Hinata nodded.

"I will," She assured with a soft smile on her lips as she walked towards her husband's clone.

"Good luck everyone," Hinata softly said before she and the clone shunshin away.

After his wife had departed, Naruto immediately got down to business.

"Can you still teleport, Sasuke?" He asked his best friend, assessing his chakra flow with his sensory ability.

The Uchiha in question nodded and answered, "Aa… "

Before going to the moon, Naruto had shared his chakra with his three companions for them to be able to fight in top shape, but he still wanted to confirm if they hadn't felt any strain.

"Then let's get on to business…" Naruto clamped a hand on his best friend's shoulder, eyes staring straight at his best friend's mismatched pair, and showed him the memory that the Sage of the Six Paths shared with him.

"Kakashi, hold on tight," The Uchiha warned and the former Rokudaime Hokage put his hand on his blond student's shoulder and they teleported inside the first-ever entrance made from the Earth to Kaguya's dimension.

* * *

Upon arriving, the Nanadaime quickly formed the appropriate hand seals, not wanting to alert any of the Ōtsutsuki residing in the dimension. Sasuke and Kakashi put their hands on top of Naruto's and focused their chakra on the seal. The Kanji in Naruto's palm glowed a vibrant red as the blond channeled all the Senjutsu chakra lingering in the dimension, at the same time the two descendants of Hagoromo's son used Yin-Yang release to complete the seal.

"Sasuke, we need to get out before the whole dimension is completely sealed," Naruto warned his friend.

The raven-haired Shinobi grunted in acknowledgment as he activated his Rinnegan.

A swirl of black appeared behind them, and the blond Hokage used his truth-seeking orbs, reshaping them to flat discs to use as platforms for them to stand on, floating outside of Kaguya's dimension.

* * *

In the depths of Kaguya's dimension where the members of the Ōtsutsuki clan resided, a distant tremble was heard.

Momoshiki and Kinshiki looked up, startled at the sudden surge of power that went through them, almost like an electric current. They stared at each other solemnly, standing up from their sitting positions.

"What was that?" Momoshiki murmured, eyes darting in all directions.

However, he hadn't noticed a root sprouting out from underneath him.

It latched on his feet. The two men were startled as the root grew, becoming a massive tree, latching onto their bodies like vines.

"What the-"

"What the hell is this!?"

The two cursed out loud as they struggled to break free, trying to activate their powers. They attempted to send chakra through their bodies, but to their horror, they realized that their powers were being sucked out, presumably by the giant trees enveloping their figures.

Their attempts to channel chakra made it much easier for the tree to spread and latch on to all remaining Ōtsutsuki members. As their powers were sucked dry, the tree embraced them into its body, lulling them to an eternal dreamless sleep.

The new God tree was born inside Kaguya's dimension, its branches imprisoning every member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, putting them to sleep forever as their bodies were sucked inside, strengthening the seal.

The three Kage-level Shinobi looked at the slowly closing portal in front of them with emotionless eyes as the seal finally activated and forever sealed the dimension and its occupants for all eternity.

* * *

***One Week Later***

The remaining survivors of the war-torn future had camped inside a cave, waiting for their Hokage to return together with his best friend and former sensei.

"What is taking them so long? Hinata arrived much earlier than them." Ino huffed impatiently as she crossed her arms over her chest. Sakura sighed.

"I know those three didn't just go out to look for food and check the date," She mumbled as she pouted, irritated that her two teammates and their former Sensei went on a Team 7 bonding mission without her. Though Hinata had already told them that they went to do something important, it was frustrating that they didn't even bother to inform them of their true agenda.

However, though she felt a bit left out, she understood their reasons: they had kids here that they shouldn't leave unattended. She would let this slide for once.

A few hours after the three went out to _'look for food and check out the date,'_ dozens of golden clones of the Nanadaime Hokage appeared and unsealed enough food to last for a week. Granted, it was mostly fruits and vegetables, though that wasn't much of a problem – they were Shinobi after all. So for the meat, they opted to hunt and fish in a nearby river.

It was a good thing that they still hadn't encountered any bandits or Shinobi in their hideout, but they knew that it would only be a matter of time. They just had to hope that their missing leader and comrades would arrive before then.

As if her prayers were heard, a golden aura flashed in front of them, and their missing leader and comrades who ditched them prior had finally arrived.

"Welcome back, took you long enough," Sakura greeted, her pink eyebrows raised so high that they practically disappeared into her bangs. Her eyes pierced the Hokage's soul, as she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head as Kakashi eye-smiled at them. Sasuke just grunted as he was greeted by his very worried daughter.

"Papa! You're back!" Sarada enthusiastically exclaimed as she hugged her father. The man wrapped an arm around her small back as his wife encircled her arms around them.

Naruto was greeted by his daughter enthusiastically and he lifted her on the air.

"Ah! Daddy!" The girl laughed as she hugged her father tightly.

"Ah, you're getting bigger, Hima-chan; I can barely carry you now," The Nanadaime fondly said as he put a soft kiss on his daughter's forehead, the cute girl giggling.

"Welcome back old man." His eldest greeted, "What took you so long, dattebasa? Mom and Hima were worried." Boruto scowled, trying his hardest to not show that he was worried too. Naruto ruffled his hair as the blond boy protested.

"Oi! That's uncool, dattebasa!"

The blond Hokage laughed and looked up at his approaching wife who was smiling at them.

"Welcome back dear, we were worried." Hinata softly said to her husband as she approached her family.

Himawari asked to be put down as the two children made space for their mother. Hinata hugged her husband as she laid a kiss on his neck that made the blond Hokage's ears and neck flush a vibrant scarlet. He unconsciously tightened his hold around her as she moved away with a giggle.

"Well, you got some explaining to do, dear." Naruto sighed at his mischievous wife. _'I'll get back to you later,'_ His eyes conveyed as he finally shifted his attention to his remaining comrades who were looking at him expectantly.

"Hahaha, sorry for the delay everyone. We just did a side mission for a bit, aaand I had to master my father's Hiraishin jutsu for emergency situations. That's why it took us so long, and for the side mission, that's what I'm going to discuss after the three of us have eaten," He happily informed them and his comrades sighed.

"We already prepared food, so let's all eat together!" Temari said and everyone agreed as every family huddled together and ate happily together.

* * *

_***A few hours after they had eaten and the explanation ensued*** _

"So that's why it took you a week, and that's why you brought Hinata with you, " Shikamaru mumbled, quite shocked with the information he just heard before his palm slid down his face with a sigh.

"What a drag… you're too troublesome to deal with, Naruto." The Nara grumbled as he stared at the sky in exasperation.

"W-who would have thought that it was possible to seal Kaguya's dimension forever?" Tsunade, the former Godaime Hokage mumbled to herself. She was shocked beyond belief at what Naruto had done.

"Well, I'm honestly not surprised. Considering all the bizarre things that he had done in his life, I don't think anything will shock me when it comes to Naruto anymore." Sakura said with a smile, a twinge of humor swimming in the depths of her viridian eyes.

Meanwhile, Ino and Temari exchanged shocked looks, still unable to say anything with the turn of events that their Hokage and comrades got into. Then Temari started giggling, followed suit by Ino.

Shikadai and Inojin looked at their laughing mothers with unreadable expressions on their faces. Sarada and Himawari looked at the Nanadaime Hokage with stars in their eyes.

"So coool!" The two girls chorused. Inojin slapped Boruto and Sarada's shoulders.

"Your Dads are awesome! And your mom too, Boruto," The blond Yamanaka said as he grinned at them. Boruto and Sarada looked at each other before beaming so widely that they could see their gums.

"What do you know, the old man didn't lose his touch! And I knew from the start that my Mom is a badass kunoichi, dattebasa!"

The blonde Uzumaki boy boasted with his friend, nostril-flaring with pride.

"Well, I know all this time that Papa is great, and my Mom is part of the new generation of Legendary Sannin so there's no question with that," Sarada puffed up, hands placed on her hips as she jutted her chin up in a boastful manner with a smirk so smug, worthy of an Uchiha Princess.

Meanwhile, the adults had finished questioning the trio for details and Tsunade finally asked one of the most important questions that they should know.

"So, what timeline are we in?" Tsunade solemnly asked, and the others shifted their eyes towards their blond Hokage.

"Hmm, according to my clones, we arrived not too long after the Third Shinobi War. Obito is surely already in the hands of Madara. However, Rin Nohara was still alive in Konoha, and according to Kaka-sensei, her kidnapping will happen two days from now." Naruto informed them.

"It's sad that we weren't able to save Obito, but Rin's kidnapping is a crucial event too. We can rescue Obito if we rescue Rin." Naruto nodded at Sakura's input and he stared at his old sensei. Sakura and Sasuke immediately caught on, and the pink-haired Kunoichi put a hand on her former Sensei's shoulder.

"Don't worry Sensei, we'll rescue them for sure," Sasuke grunted in approval at what his wife had said and Naruto grinned.

The three of them knew how much this meant to their former Sensei. Since almost half of Hatake Kakashi's life was wasted through mourning the loss of his precious teammates, succeeding in this mission was another step to changing the future.

"Of course we will!" Naruto assures with a thumbs up and the former Hokage smiled at his beloved students.

"Of course," He mumbled quietly under his breath, sincerity clear in his voice.

"Yosh! Let's go create a badass plan now! Shika, you know what to do, dattebayo!" Naruto happily stated as he glanced towards his personal adviser expectantly.

The lazy Nara answered with his famous, _"How troublesome,"_ With mumblings of, _"What a drag."_ This was answered by a thumbs up from the honored Nanadaime Hokage and a: _"We're counting on you! Genius tactician, dattebayo!"_

Shikamaru sighed before he formed his favorite thinking pose. He was silent for a couple of minutes and the others waited patiently for their tactician to finish devising an effective strategy.

When he finally moved from his position, he turned his serious gaze on the waiting men.

"Alright, I thought of all the possibilities that could happen and the risks, and I finally came up with a plan that's not as risky for all of us, but will still accomplish our end goal." The Nara said as he moved to draw on the ground using a branch.

"So, here's the plan."

_**To be continued…** _

* * *

**REVIEWS!**

(I only accept constructive criticism. I'm a new writer who is still exploring the art of fanfiction)

(English is not my native language, pardon me.)

CHECK MY STORY UPDATES ON MY PROFILE!

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_**SyrinxSilenus** _


	3. Chapter 2: Operation: Rin's rescue and Obito's retrieval

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter. I've been busy with my private life for a while and I needed to rest for a bit and think of where I want this story to go. As I mentioned before, this is more for my own entertainment and I just wanted to share my imaginations with you. I would like to warn you not to expect a much more serious plot because I really hated fics that made time travel so complicated and the timeline so fucked up that it doesn't even make sense why they time travel anymore when the outcome seems the same as the old timeline. Up until now I still didn't know how I'll end this so I'll just wing the future chapters after all of my plans are written. Anyways, sorry for my rumblings, I would like to thank all of the people who read, followed, and put this story in their favorites. I appreciate the reviews. Thank you so much for your loving support. Before going to the chapter, I would like to clarify that I change the timeline here a bit so don't get confused. The Third Shinobi War is over here, ended by the Yellow Flash himself. (Will be explained in chapter 3)

Before going to the chapter, I would like to thank my awesome betas!

_**Gheloured** _

_**Kurupira** _

_**MiloOfTheKey** _

_**Hotarubushi** _

_**GG Anime** _

_**Akaichi-rin** _

_**Hakon2feb** _

_**Regalithy** _

Thank you for being patient with me. Your advice, comments, and suggestions always motivated me to be better and do better.

 **EDIT:** I'M SO SORRY! I FORGOT TO PUT THE LINE BREAKS! I JUST ADDED IT NOW.

* * *

**EDITED: October 18, 2020**

* * *

_**The Future in Our Hands** _

_**Chapter 2: Operation: Rin's rescue and Obito's retrieval.** _

The hissing ricocheted across the sky, lightning crackling like an angry storm in the hand of a young teenager as he struck and killed as many Kiri-nin as he could.

Hatake Kakashi's A-rank assassination jutsu, **Chidori** , echoed in the ears of his opponents; living through its moniker of _'the cry of a thousand birds'_ as he pushed his tired legs to move and strike; not relenting even as the Kirigakure Shinobi dropped like flies on the ground.

The 13-year-old was merciless.

 _"Left, right,"_ Kakashi's eyes darted in all directions as his enemy pounced on him without pause. He was already on the verge of unconsciousness, his chakra rapidly depleting.

 _"Endure it! Damn it! You must protect her!"_ He told himself over and over again, recalling the promise made with Obito.

 _"You can't rest yet. Not yet!"_ he screamed to himself as his **Chidori** laced arm struck another Kiri-nin.

_"Kakashi, protect Rin," Uchiha Obito said, his_ _voice_ _ragged and rasping with each breath he took. Blood was dripping down his chin to the cold floor of the cave._

_"I will, with my life,"-was the vow that he spoke as tears continuously rolled down his masked cheeks. He knew that day, that his life was not his own. He would use it to protect his precious people. He would not lose another one of them._

When his teammate said his final words, he vowed that he would dedicate his life to protecting Rin, and here they were, standing far away from Konoha as multiple Kiri Shinobi surrounded them. He had to bring his teammate back home to Konoha, even if his limbs screamed in pain, his body barely able to move.

Kakashi knew in the back of his mind that it was impossible to survive this situation. There were too many Kiri-nin for him to fight alone, but he refused to give up. Rin was here, and their enemies were not yet dead. Maybe if he died protecting Rin, only then would he be able to face Obito in the afterlife. If he died now, he would be content as long as Nohara Rin survived.

Kakashi pulled back his arm, aiming to charge his Chidori right through the Kiri Shinobi's chest.

His lightning-covered hand descended in slow motion towards his target and as if digging into butter with a spoon, his hand pierced through his target's chest. The person sputtered blood on his face. His arm felt coated with molasses as the blood of his victim dripped on the ground as his Chidori laced arm went cleanly through the person's heart.

* * *

Rin's heart pounded erratically inside her chest, clenching her eyes shut before she stilled herself; solidifying her resolve to commit suicide by jumping in front of her teammate's deadly attack.

At that time, the only coherent thoughts running through her head were… _"I'm a danger to Konoha… I must die… I can't let this thing let loose inside Konoha… I can't go back to the village… I'm THE trap… "_

And so, with a hardened heart, she proceeded to jump in front of her teammate's **Chidori**. She leaped high, using a burst of chakra on the soles of her feet to give her an extra boost.

Time stopped as her life flashed before her eyes. She could feel the wild electric current of the **Chidori** grazing her cheeks as she shut her eyes in fear – resigned to her fate.

_"I'm sorry, Kakashi."_

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she waited for the pain to come.

_She hoped that it would be fleeting._

_She hoped that she would die soon._

_She hoped the pain was bearable._

The sound of the cracking lightning became louder and louder and Rin braced for the pain – only to feel a sudden burst of nausea when someone abruptly grabbed her by the back of her clothes and yanked her away from the deadly attack, _hard_.

Then, the unknown person promptly chopped her neck with ease, making her lose the chance to fight back or to even chanced a glimpse of her attacker – the darkness embraced her.

* * *

Obito never ran so fast in his life. His battered body numbed with adrenaline.

He tried his best to ignore the ache in his muscles as he used his legs for the first time in what felt like forever. He couldn't remember how long he was trapped inside that cave with the crazy geezer who called himself Uchiha Madara.

That creepy old man had done nothing but stare at his pathetic body in mocking silence while he tried to wiggle his way out of the cave the moment he awoke from his supposed slumber.

Weeks of captivity with that old geezer hadn't wavered his resolve to make it back to his teammates. He was determined to push his body to move, no matter how painful it was. Even though his torturous Genjutsu. Obito would come back to Konoha, where his precious people were waiting for him. His comrades.

_"Kakashi, Rin… Minato-sensei. Please wait for me."_

A few months had passed since he woke up from his supposed death. At first, Obito thought that he was only hallucinating. Especially when an old, wrinkled man, claiming to be Konoha's most notorious missing-nin, _'saved'_ him from the hands of death. With a leg and hand that he thought he could never use again, which were wrapped like a mummy would, only to find out that it was replaced by a white-cell creature that doesn't look like skin at all.

It took him a while to be able to stand on his own feet. After crawling and stumbling for two months, he finally managed to stand and move his artificial arm and leg. Obito decided then and there that he would train his ass off in order to go back home, and he did; even though the old geezer continued to spit nonsense to him about his team not caring for him, that his own village was corrupt and cancer that needed to be destroyed or that the Shinobi system was nothing but a piece of shit that breeds more hatred.

Obito also decided during his stay that the old man was insane. He obviously didn't know what he was talking about. And so, he turned a deaf ear and pretended that he was paying attention to what the old man was spouting.

In truth, Obito didn't give a fuck about his philosophies and his twisted beliefs in the Shinobi World, he just wanted to enjoy a hot shower and his comfy bed. He wanted to tease Kakashi again. He wanted to try and make a move on Rin. He wanted to go home.

Days and nights passed by before he was finally able to throw a punch, and Obito knew that it wasn't enough. So he trained harder, pushing himself to the limits just to gain control over his new limbs.

Today wasn't any different. He was determined to come out of this cave and be with his team again.

He was training with Zetsu to finally be able to walk out of the godforsaken cave. Another Zetsu appeared out of thin air, informing him that his teammates were in danger. His mind seemed to short circuit at the thought of his team in danger.

 _"Kakashi…Rin. Where the heck is Minato-Sensei?"_ Worry consumed him as his thoughts ran frantically.

Obito had immediately reacted to the news. There was no hesitation in his mind. He would do everything in his power to get to them, even if he needed to crawl his way towards his teammates' location. He felt fear creeping up his senses at the thought of his teammates fighting for their lives without him.

He didn't need to think twice as he demanded to be let out of the cave. He didn't give a fuck about Madara. His team needed him.

The old man refused his departure, but he paid him no mind. Before the geezer could stop him, he had already punched the boulder that was blocking his exit. Apparently, that was a bad idea because his artificial arm was destroyed and disintegrated to the ground like a drop of liquid.

It was a good thing that Guruguru decided to help him, merging with his right side to act as his new limb replacement in order for him to be able to run outside.

At that moment, he hadn't thought of how odd it was for Madara to let him out and save his teammates without a fuss, or how odd it was for Guruguru to suddenly decide to help him out of nowhere when he hadn't done so in the past few weeks of his captivity. All that mattered at that time was the fact that he finally could run again, with Guruguru as his artificial replacement limbs.

So Obito ran until he finally reached the clearing. He watched as Kakashi's hand, enveloped in his own invented jutsu, went through the chest of the Kiri Shinobi before his eyes rolled back and he promptly lost consciousness. Kakashi dropped to the ground like a rag doll, all chakra spent, while dead bodies littered around him. Obito immediately took note of the few Kirigakure Shinobi alive who were about to attack the unconscious Hatake.

"KAKASHI!" He shouted in panic, "Where's Rin!?" He frantically said, eyes darting around the clearing when he remembered that the person he loved was supposed to be with Kakashi. He vaguely caught a glimpse of his female teammate leaning on a tree, unconscious. Before he could really access the full clearing though, his attention was caught again by the unconscious Hatake when the remaining enemy nin went to attack him.

Obito stepped a foot in front of him ready to defend his fallen teammate, but something stopped him. No, someone did.

He dimly registered two Shinobi with Leaf ANBU masks who had started striking the remaining Kiri-nin, _'Fox, Dog, Bear, and Slug'_ he took note of the masks that the ANBU wore as they struck the enemy Shinobi without hesitation, killing them all in an instant. He felt a sharp sting at the back of his neck and a soft murmur.

_"Sorry… but you need to sleep for now."_

–And then darkness.

Obito knew no more.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi, former Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha, struck the last two Kiri-nin at the back of their neck with lightning coated hands; they died quietly without much suffering.

He knew that it wasn't enough to break even with what they had done to Rin, but his blond student hated brutality, so they made sure to kill every Kiri Shinobi as quickly as possible.

He lifted his gaze towards the Nanadaime Hokage, who **henge'd** himself with the dress attire of Konoha's ANBU, with a fox mask and black, spiky hair, hiding his yellow locks. Kakashi had **henge'd** himself in his old ANBU gear, with his signature Dog mask and light brown hair. Tsunade, with a slug mask and dark brown hair, not very subtle with the mask but that would do for now. Sai, with **henge'd** blond hair and Konoha's standard ANBU attire had a Bear mask securely placed on his face.

Shikamaru, Temari, Hinata, and Ino were hiding among the trees with the kids, silently watching them do their work.

Sasuke and Sakura were assigned a different task than them. The Uchiha couple had gone to eliminate Madara and Black Zetsu with the help of Naruto's clones.

Sasuke was actually enough to do the job by himself, dragging Sakura with him was practically overkill – especially after Hinata gave the pink-haired woman her **Yang** power; wanting to make a perfect **Yin-Yang** combination with Naruto. However, the Nanadaime Hokage didn't want to take any chances, and Sakura was assigned the same mission with her husband in killing Madara and Black Zetsu; which the pink-haired Kunoichi happily accepted.

To execute the plan without fail, they split the group into three. One group was to eliminate Madara, Black Zetsu, and destroy the Gedo Mazo; while another group rescued Rin and teenage Kakashi; Naruto's task was to fix Obito's seal in his heart and battered body. The last group was tasked to guard the children.

Kakashi watched as the Zetsu wrapped around Obito's body, using it in an attempt to strike Naruto. It was a very dumb move.

The older Hatake didn't feel an ounce of sympathy when the blond Hokage yanked Tobi/Guruguru out of Obito's body like it was nothing, splitting the pathetic thing in half and striking his face with a **Rasengan**. All the while, his cerulean eyes were cold as ice, gleaming visibly from the holes of his ANBU mask.

Kakashi almost shivered at the blatant display of power. His cute little Genins who hadn't even understood the importance of basic teamwork before had truly grown into terrifying Shinobi.

He couldn't have been more proud.

Kakashi suppressed the urge to wipe an imaginary tear of joy as he watched his former dead-last student shake Tobi's lower body like a piece of useless meat.

The upper body of the White Zetsu turned into a tree as Naruto walked towards Obito, dragging the pathetic Zetsu's lower body to attach it to the battered right side of the Uchiha. With the use of his **Yin-Yang** release, he had worked to fix the broken part of the teen's body as much as possible.

He then proceeded to carry Obito bridal-style towards the rest of his teammates, while Sai carried Rin's unconscious body.

Together, the Nanadaime and the former Root agent laid the two teens beside the unconscious chibi Kakashi. The blond quietly stood in front of the teenagers as they laid side by side, sleeping peacefully in the middle of the multiple dead bodies of their enemies. As the Nanadaime Hokage quietly observed the three, he couldn't help but stare at his former Sensei's teenage self in astonishment.

"Wow...Kaka-sensei, I didn't know you looked this cute as a teenager." Naruto snickered as the 48-year-old Kakashi gave him an eye smile behind his ANBU mask.

"Maa, I remember the three of you looked much cuter as my lovely little Genins back then when you all were nothing but snotty, whiny brats." Future Kakashi drawled lazily.

The blond Hokage loudly snorted at that comment, rolling his eyes at his old Sensei's antics before proceeding to do his work. He bit his thumb and started drawing an intricate seal on top of Rin's ticking time-bomb of a seal.

His finger moved with practiced ease as if he had been doing this for all of his life. Each stroke was precise and had its intended destination. There was no hesitation with every line and design added, and the seal was completed not even a minute later. It was only a temporary fail-safe, just to make sure that the seal wouldn't explode anytime soon.

He could have easily absorbed the Sanbi inside him if he ever managed to get out, but he wanted to avoid the hustle of a Bijuu rampaging or running away before he could absorb him. If he was secured inside, then it would be much easier to absorb him later.

Naruto had a talk with the tailed beast regarding the existence of the past Bijuu earlier before the mission, and he had found out that the past Bijuu would be eventually absorbed by the future Bijuu because they were much stronger than their past self. So it was logical that the massive chakra and existence of the past Bijuu would merge with the future Bijuu, leaving their Jinchuuriki nothing but a lifeless corpse; and so Naruto had decided to just absorb the past Bijuu before they naturally merge with the future's, restoring the life force of their specific Jinchuuriki once the Bijuu were extracted from them.

The blond had already scattered his clones in the Five Hidden Villages, to extract the Bijuu from inside their hosts except for Konoha. He had other plans for the past Kurama before he absorbed him.

"There, now Isobu would not be able to rampage." He mumbled under his breath to no one in particular before he looked up at his former Sensei.

"Your turn, strike her right here." The blond pointed at the girl's chest where her heart was located and the former Rokudaime conceded without question. He charged his right hand with **Chidori** , and struck the girl in the chest, destroying the seal that was placed in the girl's heart that controls her decisions and emotions.

"Baachan!" Naruto called out.

Tsunade didn't need more prompting as her hand glowed with the pale green color of her medical jutsu, immediately working to stop the bleeding. Laying his hand on top of the former Godaime, the blond Uzumaki called upon Isobu's chakra. Prodding relentlessly inside the girl's seal until he had successfully grasped the startled Bijuu. Then he promptly yanked hard, closing his eyes in concentration as he merged the future and past tailed beasts together.

After the last of the Sanbi's chakra was removed from Rin's body and into his own, Naruto channeled his **Yin-Yang** release and restored Rin's beating heart. The job was finished in no time.

"I would have felt so insulted about that power if I wasn't used to your unfathomable abilities, Naruto," Tsunade said dryly. Naruto laughed sheepishly before he shifted his attention towards the unconscious Obito.

Without any further instruction, Kakashi struck his best friend's chest to destroy the seal that Madara placed to manipulate his emotions, completely freeing him from the man's control. This time, Naruto didn't need to absorb a Bijuu, so he had begun to heal Obito right away. Not even ten minutes later, their tasks were done.

"Here's your second chance Obito, don't waste it," The Nanadaime Hokage whispered with a wistful smile as he looked at the unconscious face of Uchiha Obito.

"Let's move them to the cave," Naruto ordered as he stood up. Kakashi looked at him with shining eyes.

"Thank you, Naruto… " The 48-year-old Hatake softly whispered.

Naruto gave a blinding grin and a thumbs up to his former Jounin Sensei. Before their group proceeded to change location. Their tasks were done.

* * *

Sakura burst through the wall with a single punch, walking inside the cave with a smirk worthy of an action movie star with her leading man beside her.

Madara and the Zetsu were startled at the sudden invasion, and the old wrinkled man opened his mouth to question the intruders. Before he could blurt out a single word, he was struck through the heart with a chokuto, and a fistful of his hair was yanked hard to force him to look at the unknown man's eye.

Madara's eyes widened as he registered the man's mismatched eyes.

 _"Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan! How is that possible–"_ Were his last thoughts, he managed to let out a gurgle before the legendary Uchiha Madara was submerged into Sasuke's Tsukuyomi, and was introduced to 72 hours of nonstop illusion: showcasing the Fourth Shinobi war and the resurrection of the Rabbit Goddess, the progenitor of chakra, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. How the world had nearly ended, and how he was used by Black Zetsu as a mere puppet to bring back his mother to the Earth and destroy humanity.

The memories were replayed over and over until his mind broke completely. Uchiha Madara let out a bloodcurdling scream before he exhaled his final breath, dying on the spot. He was left feeling useless, pathetic, and regretful. His final word was Hashirama's broken name, whispered under his breath.

Sasuke looked up from the legendary Uchiha's corpse and saw that his wife had just finished tying the scroll where the twitching and screaming body of Black Zetsu was sealed – _after she had finished pummeling him to the ground like he was nothing._

She tossed the scroll towards her husband without a care and proceeded to help their blond teammate's clones in eliminating every single Zetsu in the cave.

* * *

While this was happening, Naruto had sent his other clones to eliminate all the other Zetsu clones scattered around the Shinobi world from Hagoromo's memory.

"Is this the last of them here?" One Naruto clone asked after he smashed a **Rasengan** on the twitching Zetsu under his foot.

Another Naruto clone hit two Zetsu who tried to run away with two overpowered **Rasengan**. "Yep, that's the last. We'll change location now."

"Hmm, the next memory would be near the land of lightning." Naruto's clone said. He was the clone who was responsible for sensing the Zetsu's around, utilizing his Sennin chakra.

"Alright, let's go dattebayo!"

The five glowing clones disappeared and promptly appeared in another location filled with white Zetsu.

"Intruders!" One Zetsu angrily snarled.

"Who are you!?" Another yelled.

"We're your worst nightmare!" The Naruto clones simultaneously said with terrifying smirks on their lips.

The agonizing yell of the Zetsu's inside the underground cave could be heard all around the Lightning country as the Naruto clones disintegrated their army, one by one.

* * *

Sasuke effortlessly caught the scroll that his wife had thrown and torched it with **Amaterasu** , watching with emotionless eyes as the scroll turned into ash... erasing the existence of the person inside.

Black Zetsu couldn't do anything but to feel the agonizing flame as he turned into ashes. His confused mind couldn't comprehend how his plans turned from progressing moderately into this.

 _"No, motheeerr!"_ – was the third son of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's final cry as his existence disappeared from the Shinobi World.

After the ashes crumbled to the ground, the Uchiha lifted his eyes to look at his best friend's clone to check that the bastard hadn't escaped. The clone's eyes that were surrounded by orange pigmentation were closed for a couple of seconds, quietly sensing Black Zetsu's presence before it opened and he gave his raven-haired friend a thumbs up and a grin.

"Confirmed: the bastard is gone, he couldn't escape the seals that I put around his body. His presence disappeared too," the clone happily informed him and the Uchiha smirked.

"Hn," He grunted and shifted his gaze to his wife who headed towards him, dusting her hands off with a smug grin on her face.

"HAH! That was a piece of cake. I can't believe that these guys made our lives so difficult back then," Sakura laughed. Sasuke's lips quirk into a smile he reserved just for his wife.

"Aa, it helps that we already know what's coming, they didn't stand a chance," The Uchiha's deep voice resonated around the cave as they started to walk towards the exit.

They stopped just a few meters outside the opening of the cave, staring at it for the last time before Sakura started running back towards it, jumping so high from the ground with her chakra-coated feet and a shit-eating grin on her face.

Airborne, she cocked her arm back and tightened her fist, concentrating a large amount of chakra around her knuckle before.. _."SHANNAROOO_!" She screamed as her fists made contact with the stone surface and the cave crumbled into dust.

Naruto's clone immediately formed two **Bijuu Rasenshuriken** and threw them at the destroyed cave effortlessly.

Sasuke's mismatched eyes glowed red and purple as his **Susano'o** manifested.

 **"Indora no Ya,"** The Uchiha mumbled under his breath as he fired a single Indra's Arrow not far from Naruto's attack.

The loud resounding BOOM echoed throughout the Elemental Nation, shaking its villages' foundations as the very Earth shook in fright.

* * *

**Location: Iwagakure**

The Tsuchikage, Onoki, looked up from his meeting with his councilors and held on for dear life to the council's table as a frightening power shook their village.

The villagers tried to hide underneath the tables while the Shinobi held on to something concrete. The Earth shook for a total of fifteen seconds before it died down, leaving behind traces of an unfathomable power coming from the borders of the fire country, near the village of Konohagakure.

"What on earth was that?" One Iwa councilor managed to blurt out after a few seconds of silence.

"Such frightening power," Onoki murmured in disbelief as his eyes danced with a kind of fear he had never felt before.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, near the borders of the Land of Earth Countries...** _

A Naruto clone shrouded with golden chakra suddenly appeared behind the unsuspecting Roshi, hitting him in the back of the head and knocking him out. He didn't even realize it.

The blond put a hand on the man's stomach and pulled Son Goku out of the seal and into his own, merging him with the future Yonbi with such ease that it looked like he just went to close his eyes for a few seconds.

Once he fully absorbed the Bijuu inside of the man, he channeled his **Yin-Yang** release and restored Roshi's already dying heart back to life, vanishing without a trace before the man opened his eyes.

It was exactly 10 minutes after the clone left, the former Jinchūriki of the Yonbi regained his consciousness.

At first, everything was blurry and the man felt light-headed. He also felt like a huge burden was removed from his body. That was when he remembered that someone attacked him.

Roshi abruptly sat up, eyes frantically darting everywhere before he put a hand in his stomach. His eyes filled with horror with a mixture of bewilderment.

"Gone… " his raspy voice whispered in disbelief. "T-the Yonbi is gone," He uttered to himself, dazed at the sudden realization. The burden that was forced unto him for half of his life was gone. He couldn't believe it, but the Yonbi's presence had completely disappeared inside him. Not an ounce of its chakra was even left behind. It was as if he hadn't even been its Jinchūriki.

Roshi's forehead creased in confusion. If the Yonbi was extracted from him, then–

"H-how am I alive?"

* * *

**Location: Somewhere in Earth Country**

Han was trudging his feet on the ground, bored out of his mind on his lonely travels, appreciating the silence surrounding him. He had just finished a B-rank mission and was on his way back to his village when he felt a powerful earthquake that shook the very earth that he was standing on. The shock was so strong that he ended up holding onto a boulder to steady himself.

Until now, he still couldn't shake the feeling of the frightening power he just felt a few minutes ago, and somehow he had a feeling that something big just happened. Something that could have a great impact on all the Elemental Nations.

Han also had an inkling feeling that something was just about to happen to him, thus why he was on guard. Shifting his eyes around the area and expanding his sensory abilities for any form of attack. As if on cue, he had suddenly felt pain assaulting the back of his neck, his brain vaguely outputting the feeling of shock coursing through his veins, as he registered that he had been attacked.

 _"What the fuck! I couldn't even sense his approach!"_ were his last thoughts before he dropped to the ground unconscious, equivalent to a lifeless doll.

"I'm sorry, dattebayo! I promise this will be fast and painless for you." The Naruto clone murmured softly as he placed his hand on his fellow Jinchūriki's chest and proceeded to absorb Kokuō inside its seal.

Once the task was done, Naruto lifted Han's body and rested the former Jinchūriki's back on a tree and leaped out of the place to do his next task.

The next time Han woke up, he ended up running frantically back to his village, his mind already running wild at the sudden disappearance of his tenant.

"I-it's gone!" He burst out as soon as he kicked open the door of the Tsuchikage's council room.

"Han, what do you-"

"The Gobi is gone!" Han cut off Onoki's aggravated question and dropped the bombshell in front of all the Iwa's council members.

_"WHAT!?"_

* * *

**Location: Kumogakure**

Kumo was in a frantic mess, after the sudden tremor that shook the Hidden Villages', Bee's exclamation of, _"Bro! The Hachibi is gone!"_ His usual rapping habit forgotten at his frantic scream.

"WHAT!" A yelled in disbelief and promptly broke his table, again, at the sudden news after the frightening roll of power near the border of the Fire country.

"I was training alone at the Unraikyo when I suddenly lost consciousness! And then I woke up, and Hachi's gone!" Bee frantically informed his brother who had just been elected as the Yondaime Raikage after his father, the Sandaime Raikage, died.

"What do you mean, gone!?" A harshly asked as his face morphed in horror at his adopted brother's state of distress.

Before the former Jinchūriki could answer, there was another frantic sound of footsteps heading towards the office, and Nii Yugito burst in with a pale face.

"The Nibi is gone!" The 13-year-old girl burst, horror visible over her sheet-white face.

"WHAT!?" The Fourth Raikage looked like he was going to have a stroke any moment now, as the veins in his forehead threatened to burst and his lightning chakra crackled around him.

The angry yell of the Yondaime Raikage echoed throughout the village followed by a loud explosion inside the tower.

* * *

**Location: Sunagakure**

One Suna-nin was walking near the entrance of the village, doing his usual job of patrolling around the village when he almost tripped on an old-looking kettle.

"Huh, what's this?" he curiously asked himself as his forehead creased in confusion.

The man crouched down and grabbed the kettle, examining the object with critical eyes before it suddenly turned wider and wider as the seconds passed by, and he abruptly dropped the kettle like a hot potato.

"S-S-Shukaku's Kettle!" The Shinobi screamed as he frantically scrambled towards the Kazekage's office to report the bizarre phenomenon.

Immediately, the whole village was alerted, and Rasa, the newly appointed Yondaime Kazekage, hurriedly went to check the place where Shukaku's kettle should be. He found it empty. The signal for an intruder alert resounded around the village as the Shinobi of Sunagakure frantically ran back and forth to investigate the sudden Bijuu theft, but they hadn't any clue aside from the abandoned kettle near the village's entrance.

* * *

**Location: Somewhere near Kirigakure**

Utakata suddenly sat up, blinking his blurry eyes as his senses slowly adjusted to consciousness. His face paled, before he put a shaking hand on his stomach, realization had dawned on the now-former Jinchūriki of the Rokubi.

"T-The Rokubi is gone," He said to himself, eyes wide and pupils darting frantically around the empty clearing. He touched his face to make sure that he was still alive.

"Then why am I alive?" He questioned in disbelief, face pale as a sheet of paper.

"Utakata-kun, where have you been?" the addressed man immediately snapped his eyes towards the person who was approaching him.

"S-Shishou… " He murmured, eyes still wide in a panic.

Harusame, Utakata's master and current care-taker was filled with worry upon seeing the terror in his student's eyes, he immediately went beside him without hesitation to find out what was wrong.

"What happened?" Harusame urgently asked as he checked his student for injuries, but he found none. And then, the most bizarre thing happened, Utakata started crying.

"I'm free! I'm finally free!" He shouted before he hugged his master in a tight embrace. Tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks as he repeatedly mumbled his delight regarding his newly-found freedom.

* * *

**Location: Takigakure**

It had been many years since the Nanabi was given to their small village and since then, they held the Bijuu in its secured cell for ages. The thought of the Nanabi being stolen from them had never been toyed with by the leaders of the village, especially if the abduction would happen inside the village's most sacred and secure place.

Not until today, that is.

The elders of Takigakure were in a panic as they discovered that the Nanabi was gone, the first assumption was that the Bijuu had escaped. As everyone began preparations for the worst, they waited, coming to a realization. No Bijuu would come to rampage in their village.

During this crucial time, Taki hadn't yet found a suitable Jinchūriki to host the Nanabi, and so they had sealed it in their holy urn. However, the sudden sound of the horn that one of their shinobi blew had alerted all of shinobi and citizens in the village that an intruder had entered. The Taki-nin tried their best to investigate the sudden breach in security, but they found none.

Up in the sky, a floating Naruto clone had snickered as he watched the frantic people in Takigakure before vanishing in a poof of smoke.

At the end of the day, Taki found nothing, not even a lead – only the missing Bijuu was the proof that someone came to in their village and managed to steal the Nanabi without being noticed. The only reason why the alarm sounded was that Naruto himself purposely triggered the alarm, he was the one who blew the horn **henge'd** as a Taki-nin while the real one slept on his feet.

* * *

All around the five Hidden villages, the unfathomable phenomenon was felt, and at the same time, each of the Great Nation's Jinchūriki lost their Bijuu. Except for one, Uzumaki Kushina, who was currently sitting in front of a large bowl of delicious-looking ramen. Happily slurping the noodles, and only looking up for a moment at the sudden tremor on the earth, holding her bowl of ramen firmly as the ground shook.

"Huh? That's weird, dattebane." She said curiously, looking up at the sky for a couple of seconds before shrugging and continuing to slurp the noodles in her bowl. Faster than you could say _'Hiraishin'_ , the bowl was empty.

"Another order of extra-large Miso Ramen, dattebane!"

* * *

Smoke filled the forest, masking the devastation that the three most powerful Shinobi in the Elemental Nation had caused.

The wind blew the smoke away and the cloud-like forms slowly dispersed, revealing a huge crater inside of a much larger crater, in the middle of the now barren land. The attack hadn't even left a single sign of its once green landscape nor a single piece of the Gedo Mazo.

The statue had been completely obliterated into nothingness as soon as the attack made contact with the cave, eradicating the chakra that Uchiha Madara had stored for the past years.

The Naruto clones poofed out of existence as soon as their work was done, leaving the Uchiha couple to themselves, enjoying their walk back towards their temporary base, not showing a lick of care at the devastation that they had left behind.

"Right. Let's go back to the cave; Naruto and the others might be there already," Sakura said happily as she stretched her arms upward. Sasuke smiled at his wife, hand reaching out to affectionately poke the middle of her forehead where her Byakugou was visible.

Sakura blushed a pretty shade of pink and the Uchiha smirked, proud that he still had the same effect on his wife even in their years of marriage. The pink-haired woman chuckled amusedly and proceeded to hook an arm around her husband's, the couple quietly walking through the forest with an air of well-worn contentment; a treasured rarity in their line of work.

The amount of time that the Uchiha couple could show affection to one another was limited due to the chaotic period of their life, but every time they had the luxury to have a private moment, they took advantage of it. They couldn't really enjoy a lot of their married years because of the burden that was placed on the Uchiha Patriarch, but whenever they had the time; when they were inside the safety of their bedroom, they confided to each other. Talk and catch up with what they missed, or simply basked in each other's presence.

"Ne Anata, I missed you," The medic said, a content smile dancing on her lips. Sasuke glanced at his wife, eyes softening as he pulled his wife closer to his side with a simple thug of his arm.

"Hn." he granted, smirking at his giggling wife.

"Oh, you." The pink-haired Kunoichi playfully poked his husband's side as she tightened her hold on his only arm.

The Uchiha couple were both trapped in their own little world, having a conversation that could only be understood by the two of them.

"Sakura." The raven-haired man playfully chastised, a small smile forming on his lips as he stared at his wife, eyes twinkling with humor.

"Sasuke." The medic jabbed back, smirking at her husband before she started chortling behind her hand.

"Ahh, I really missed you, dear." She sighed happily and her husband answered with his usual grunt, but he couldn't deny the twinkle in his eyes and the sudden hot palm on her waist as they both stopped and stared at each other.

Their relationship wasn't like the others, but their connection was much more powerful than any normal couple. With a simple gesture, they understand each other. A glance spoke for a lot of things. A simple touch signified their longing, a poke to the forehead said, _'I cherish you, I love you, you're precious to me.'_

And a soft kiss said, _'I'm always here for you.'_

Knowing that a new tomorrow awaited them seemed to lighten the mood for both husband and wife as they finally had the chance to breathe. To know that Sasuke didn't need to leave his family again to investigate Kaguya's dimension, to know that he hadn't needed to go on his journey of redemption again to atone for his sins; because all of it was gone.

In this period of time, Sasuke's sins hadn't existed, because he still hadn't committed the mistakes of his past in this very day; because he was given another chance to redo everything and cleanse himself from all his transgression, and this time – he would do it right.

* * *

Back in the temporary base of the time travelers, three unconscious bodies were laid near the exit of the cave. Two were lying side by side; namely, teenage Kakashi and Rin, while Obito slept behind the rock where Naruto was seated. Future Kakashi stood beside Rin like a guard as they waited patiently for Sasuke and Sakura's arrival.

The blond Hokage had placed his father's Hiraishin kunai just above Rin and past Kakashi's head for him to be able to see them immediately upon arrival. The rest of the group were huddled together in the inner part of the cave, quietly waiting for what's to come.

Three minutes after their arrival in the cave, Sasuke and Sakura arrived, seriously assessing the unconscious body of the teenagers in front of them.

Then the pink-haired medic's eyes landed on the adorable childlike face of their future Sensei, and she couldn't help but crack up.

"PFFT-HAHAHAHA! L-look at how c-cute Kak-ashi-sensei is a-as a teenager!" Sakura wheezed as she held onto her stomach.

Naruto couldn't keep it to himself either, and he started laughing together with his pink-haired teammate, pointing a finger at the unsuspecting Hatake.

"Aww, how c-cute. And he e-even has that a-adorable mask of h-his at th-iss age a-already," Naruto struggled to say as he laughed continuously.

Sasuke's lips quirked up and he coughed on his fist, trying to hide the chuckle that he unconsciously let out. While the future Kakashi stared at them with silent amusement.

"Maa, can't do anything about it," He said as he pulled out his favorite copy of Icha Icha Paradise that he had managed to bring in the past and buried his nose behind the juicy details written in the book that he had read for so many times already.

The duo's laughter was contagious and the others started walking towards the unconscious chibi Kakashi, and a series of laughter and mocking coos ensued.

Kakashi pretended that he hadn't heard such mockery, but when little Uzumaki Himawari squealed and started poking the masked face of his teenage self, threatening to pull down the dark mask. Kakashi's eyes instantly widened in alarm and he immediately grabbed the cute Uzumaki princess and hugged her like a toddler.

"Maa, Hima-chan, you can't do that to an unconscious person," The former Rokudaime reprimanded with an eye smile. Himawari looked at him in contemplative silence for a couple of seconds before answering.

"Umm, okay uncle Kakashi," Himawari answered sweetly. Kakashi put her down with an eye smile and patted her head.

"Good girl," He said enthusiastically as the Uzumaki princess skipped towards her mother.

"Hmm, so this is the Rokudaime Hokage as a teenager," Inojin murmured as he observed the sleeping teenager's face.

"Uncle Kakashi is sort of cute," Sarada said, giggling behind her hand.

Shikadai hummed thoughtfully as he crouched beside the unconscious teen.

Boruto started poking chibi Kakashi's cheek, and he sneakily pulled out a black marker from his pocket and proceeded to draw on the unsuspecting teenager's face. Before he could land the tip of his marker on the chibi Kakashi's face though, a hand snatched his pen away.

"Now, now kids. Entertainment is over, go, back to your post," The future Kakashi shooed the kids back to the inner part of the cave with exaggerated enthusiasm and they all groaned in disappointment.

"Aww, what a party popper," Boruto whined as he crossed his hands behind his head and pouted. Kakashi chuckled and flicked the Uzumaki heir in the forehead.

"Yawtch! Uncle!" Mini Naruto protested.

"Run along now kids."

The kids said their complaints before following the older man's instruction.

Naruto and Sakura had ended up letting out a few giggles as their former sensei deadpanned at them. When Naruto suddenly snapped his head up in alarm, everyone stiffened.

"He's here, go back to your positions. Mask on." The Nanadaime urgently ordered and the Time Travelers hurriedly went back to their previous positions. Naruto activated a seal to hide Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Temari, Sai, Shikamaru, and the kids' presence from his father; as he, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Tsunade waited for the Yellow Flash to arrive.

_**To be continued…** _

* * *

**REVIEWS!** (I only accept constructive criticism.)

**NO FLAMES PLEASE.**

_**-SyrinxSilenus** _


	4. Chapter 3: Namikaze Minato: The Yellow Flash of Konoha

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for the long wait. I was busy with my other fics, but I finally came around to posting this. As I mentioned before, I changed a few things with how the Third Shinobi War Ended, but since Narutoverse's timeline is pretty much messed up, I hope that this is an acceptable change.

Before going through the chapter, I would like to thank my beta's

_**Gheloured** _

_**Kurupira** _

_**MiloOfTheKey** _

_**GG Anime** _

_**Akaichi-rin** _

_**Hakon2feb** _

_**Regalithy** _

* * *

**EDITED: october 18, 2020**

* * *

_**The Future in Our Hands** _

_**Chapter 3: Namikaze Minato: The Yellow Flash of Konoha** _

The refreshing blue color of the sky was replaced by gloomy ashen grey, the sun refused to provide its usual shine, with only a rough, woollen blanket of mottled grey covering the land. The usual virescent hues of the trees and mountains were muted to the point of dullness; the air was heavy with the dampness of a coming storm, and even the animals knew to seek shelter.

The weather itself seemed to sympathize with the tragic event that transpired a few hours ago that changed the whole life perspective of a 13-year-old Jounin and traumatised a Chunin medic. The sky started to cry, soaking the three bodies who were tree hopping at moderate pace towards the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

Namikaze Minato briefly chanced a glance at his remaining student, noting the tears that continued to roll down the face of his female student and the hunted look in the eyes of the last Hatake. He grimaced and felt his chest constricted in pain as his stomach dropped further down. The lump in his throat seemed to get bigger as they neared the village's gate, he clenched his fist to the point of drawing blood and bit the inside of his cheek to prevent the tears that were threatening to spill from within his tear ducts.

When Obito died, Minato had only shown a brief expression of pain before he quickly hid it with a well-practised poker face.

 _'It's not yet time to mourn.'_ He told himself repeatedly while they travelled back to Konoha in a solemn silence. He still had his two students to take care of, and he would make sure that they would make it back home alive.

He had already failed them as their sensei, he didn't want to fail them more.

So Minato endured the pain, holding it in like a dark cloud, heavy with impending rainfall. Eventually, it would be too big of a burden to carry, and everything would crash.

He put on a brave face in front of his students until the three of them arrived and walked back through the gates of their village, finished their report to the Hokage; and sent his two students back home after Kakashi went to the hospital. And when he was finally in front of the apartment he shared with Kushina, he just stood there – not knowing what to do.

The feeling of failure, pain and loss had suffocated him. Even the need to breathe seemed to escape him. Staring unseeing at the door in front of him.

He couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't keep this facade, this… this false image of bravado, acting as if he was okay and he wasn't feeling the loss and failure of losing one of his students. As a Jounin Sensei, he was supposed to take care of his students. He was supposed to guide them – to make sure of their survival, but he _failed_.

_Obito was dead._

Dead because he wasn't fast enough to arrive there on time.

Why was he even called the _'Yellow Flash of Konoha'_ when he couldn't make it in time to aid his students? What good was it for him to learn the _**'Hiraishin'**_ when he couldn't even rescue one of his kids?

There was a faint click and the door in front of him abruptly opened.

Kushina had just opened the door, nearly bumping her face on his chest in her haste to get out of the apartment. She was now standing right in front of him, apparently about to go shopping, given her attire.

The redhead gaped at the man in front of her, having a hard time processing the state that he was in.

"M-Minato?" And there was the horror slowly appearing on her face as she looked at his blood-soaked vest and his dead-looking eyes.

She looked at him with widened eyes, and then it morphed to something akin to understanding. Eyes softening, she proceeded to hug him.

"Come inside, dattebane," She had softly said, and before he realized it, he was crying his eyes out on his girlfriend's shoulder, clutching her to his chest for dear life.

He vaguely registered her guiding him inside the privacy of their apartment. Her removing his clothes and helping him inside the bathroom; tossing his dirty clothes into the laundry box. She cleaned his bloodied hands and face, and towelled his hair and body dry. Then proceeded to dress him like a toddler who had yet to learn how to function properly.

He just stood there while she cleaned and dressed him up. Tears were continuously rolling down his cheeks without him realizing it. Eyes lifeless and expression dull; he felt hollow, dead inside.

Before he even realized it, she was already guiding him to their bedroom, laying him down and embracing him to her chest as she rubbed her warm fingers on his hair and back.

Warm. Home.

After feeling the suffocating guilt, the choking grasp of disappointment and failure … now he finally felt comforted, cocooned by her familiar scent, and embraced. Safe. He was finally in his safe haven.

Minato let go of his pent up frustration, wailing unabashed as he clung to her for dear life. With her, he could be all that he wanted. He could express everything, he could let go. He didn't need to pretend. She was here, she would shield him from prying eyes. He could finally be vulnerable. He could show his weakness. Because it was her, Uzumaki Kushina.

She started to hum a soft melody as he cried into her chest. Clutching her clothes tightly in his fists, trying to bury himself in her comforting scent. She hadn't asked him what happened. She hadn't said anything at all. She just embraced him and let him cry his eyes out while softly humming a soothing tune under her breath. He hadn't needed words. He just needed her to be _there._ He just needed her presence. She would understand, she always did.

The whole night, he had cried himself to sleep in the comforts of the woman he loved. And when the next day came, he put on a brave face again. Acted strong and confident even though the boulder that was his student's death weighed down on him; he kept on moving forward. Fighting to end the war to protect his village so that no more 13-year-olds like Obito would need to go on a mission, only to die because of an illogical conflict between nations. No more innocent lives would take the debt known as harsh reality and pay it with their lives.

_Young._

Obito was still so young. He was supposed to have years ahead of him; to explore the world, pain, and love. He was supposed to make his dreams come true. He had a promising future ahead of him – but this war took it from him. This war killed him.

As Namikaze Minato sliced through his enemies mercilessly in battle, using the **Hiraishin** to its fullest, he had his team's wellbeing in mind; his village and the innocent children that were forced to endure this devastating war.

 _'I will end this.'_ He thought like a mantra.

 _'This war will end here.'_ A promise that he intended to fulfil.

_Then he did it._

He had ended the war.

"Obito, I did it. I hope you can finally rest in peace," Namikaze Minato uttered to the sky, eyes swimming in unshed tears.

This was the end of the Third Shinobi War. Hundreds of Iwa Shinobi were killed that day, by only one ninja. Namikaze Minato. Kumo retreated upon witnessing how one Konoha Shinobi had crippled Iwa. Suna was just defending their territory and was in a neutral alliance with Konoha so they automatically backed out once Iwa and Kumo did. Kiri was already suffering their own problems from their tyrant Mizukage, so there was no one willing to fight anymore. No nation wanted to try to step up to the mighty power of Konoha.

He was hailed as a hero – The Yellow Flash of Konoha – but the blond himself begged to differ.

He wasn't a hero, he was a failure. One who had failed his whole team.

_'The war ended, but it cost us Obito's life. The war was over, but Uchiha Obito stayed dead.'_

The Third Shinobi War had finally come to a close, and he had vowed that he would never need to feel the pain of losing another student, ever again. He would make sure that his students were safe and alive — but then, maybe fate really hated him.

Maybe he was really destined to fail. Maybe he was cursed to always disappoint the people he cared for. Maybe he wasn't able to truly protect what was important — because a week after he had finished a mission outside the village and returned to the Hokage tower to report the success, he was greeted by the horrifying news of Rin's kidnapping. And that Kakashi had gone to rescue her on his own.

Minato felt his entire body go numb, his brain malfunctioning.

"I'm sorry, _what?"_ He asked the Sandaime with a deadpan expression, blood going cold as the beating in his ears became louder and louder.

"I'm sorry Minato, it was supposed to be a simple mission… " He zoned out the Hokage's explanation as he excused himself, bowing in front of the Kage before he walked out of his office without a word.

He hadn't needed to ask the Sandaime for permission to rescue his remaining students. He hadn't needed his approval. He would go rescue them with or without the Hokage's consent.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed heavily as the blond turned his back on him, not saying more than necessary to excuse himself out of his office. Eyes turning deadly cold, he walked out the door.

The Sandaime hadn't stopped him then.

He knew, just by seeing those eyes, that the man wouldn't wait for his consent. He would rescue his students no matter what he said, even if the entire world disagreed with him. And so, Hiruzen had let the blond go without fuss. He just sighed heavily, massaging his forehead as he felt the headache throbbing on his temple.

He had looked older than he really was by then. The war had taken its toll on him and it tired him. He couldn't do this much longer.

He had to admit it though; he had committed a lot of mistakes as a Hokage. He had too many regrets, too many wrong decisions. However, leading a Ninja Nation wasn't easy, and Hiruzen wasn't getting any younger.

"I hope you succeed, Minato," The Sandaime murmured, looking outside of the window to stare at his beloved village.

He would need to choose a successor soon. Someone who inherited the Will of Fire stronger than he did. And he already had a suitable candidate in mind.

* * *

When Namikaze Minato flashed to his student's location, he readied himself to see the worst. He stilled himself to another sight of his failure. To another corpse of his student. Or worse, both of them were gone. Forever haunting his soul for failing them repeatedly.

He, however, hadn't expected to encounter the most bizarre thing that ever happened in his life.

* * *

Minato's feet landed on the ground. A fire had illuminated the place like glowing lanterns in Konoha's most prestigious festivals, revealing that the place he had landed in was a cave.

Upon arriving, he immediately saw his unconscious students and the four unknown people situated around them, who – _he took note_ – wore Konoha's ANBU masks that he _knew_ for sure hadn't affiliated in the Konoha's ANBU Black Ops. That alone raised warning bells to Minato's ears, enough for him to instantly stiffen and stand in a battle stance.

"Who are you?" He asked icily, eyes shining with a dangerous glint that could make any normal Shinobi run for their lives.

"And don't try to fool me with those fake ANBU masks, I know for a fact that there's no ANBU in Konoha who had a fox mask, or a snake or a slug for the matter, and Dog was a mask that hasn't been taken for ages," He said.

Unfortunately for Minato, he wasn't dealing with any _normal_ shinobi.

To his astonishment and slight disbelief, the four shinobi hadn't reacted the way he expected them to react. The four of them just looked at him like they hadn't deemed him a threat to their lives.

 _'At least they had acknowledged my arrival.'_ Minato sarcastically mused.

"You're finally here, we can now wake up your students." The man with a fox mask said before he gestured something to the person with the Slug mask.

Minato's body became rigid as the person, a _woman_ , walked beside Kakashi with a glowing green aura in her hand.

 _"A medic?"_ He thought.

She was probably a medic, but he didn't trust her. Minato moved in front of her with a Kunai in hand.

"Don't move." He whispered, voice deadly as his cerulean eyes narrowed.

The woman rolled her eyes. She _rolled_ her eyes at him! He could clearly see it in the holes of her mask. Minato couldn't believe what he just saw, but he tried his best not to show his surprise. Inside, though, his mind was in utter disarray.

"Oh please, I'm just going to wake them up, feel free to slit my throat if I do otherwise." The woman snorted at him.

 _"What? What?"_ His mind reeled back at the woman's attitude.

No foreign Shinobi had ever talked to him like _that!_ Was he losing his touch?

The woman knelt beside Kakashi and positioned a glowing hand on the teen's head. Minato was still too shocked at her attitude towards him to react again.

He opened and closed his mouth like a dying fish as he stared at the masked woman. Then he heard a giggle, and his head snapped towards the sound and found the man with the fox mask giggling at him. _Giggling!_ Wasn't he intimidating enough? What was so funny?

He was about to question the man, but his student had stirred awake and distracted him enough to forget the man in the fox mask. He immediately knelt beside Kakashi when the medic walked around to Rin's side.

The young Hatake groaned as he put a hand on his head.

"Kakashi? Are you alright?" Minato worriedly asked his student. Rin also started to stir, moaning in pain as she held her head, the masked medic stood up after her job was done and returned to the side of the man with the dog mask.

"Rin!" The blond Jounin exclaimed, eyes worriedly darting from Kakashi to Rin.

"Minato-sensei?" Kakashi murmured as he blinked his blurry eyes open and was greeted by his Sensei's worried face hovering over him.

"Kakashi! Are you hurt anywhere?" The blond asked, helping the teen to sit up properly. On the other side, Rin's eyes shot up, and she frantically tried to sit.

"Ah! W-why am I alive? S-someone needs to kill me!" Rin desperately yelled, hands clutching tightly on her stomach.

That unusual reaction shocked the living daylights out of Minato and teen Kakashi's head.

 _"Did I hear her right?"_ The two men thought in disbelief.

"W-what!? Rin what are you saying?" Kakashi asked, looking horrified at his teammate.

"No! There's something-" She tried to argue, but someone cut her off.

"You don't have to worry."

Minato's head snapped at the new voice and saw the man with the fox mask kneeling in front of the frantic girl, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down.

 _'When did he get there?_ ' Minato hadn't even sensed him move!

Rin looked at the masked man with tears streaming down her cheeks, hands placed in her stomach. The Namikaze frowned, _'Why is she putting a hand on her stomach?'_

"Rin, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked worriedly, putting a hand on his teammate's shoulder. He cast a brief, suspicious glance at the masked stranger before he focused his full attention to his panicking teammate.

"I-I… t-there's something inside me… " Rin murmured, frightened beyond belief.

"As I said, you don't have to worry. Isobu is not inside of your body anymore, and I have also removed the seal on your heart," The masked man assured, and Rin stared at him with widened eyes. It was then that she realized that she hadn't known who this masked man was.

_"Who-"_

Minato frowned. _"...is he implying that…"_

"Isobu? Seal? What are you talking about?" Kakashi confusedly asked as he glared at the man.

"Isobu?" Minato asked with a raised brow. "Care to explain that?" He said, expression relaxed and calm, but no one failed to notice the dangerous glint in his cerulean eyes.

Naruto sighed, he had been trying to calm himself since his father had appeared, but it was hard for him. It was his dad. He missed him and seeing him once again after so many years triggered a lot of emotions in him.

He knew that his former sensei felt the same. After all, seeing his dead sensei alive and looking much younger than his own age was much more mind-boggling than seeing the Edo Tensei corpse of his mentor. Speaking to Namikaze Minato while he was trying to intimidate them all didn't help their case at all.

"Before I answer your question, let's wake up your other teammate, shall we? I don't want to repeat myself," Naruto said before he stood up and started walking towards the big rock that he was sitting on before.

And that was when the conscious members of Team Minato finally realized that someone else was laid behind the rock, one whom they couldn't identify yet because of the shadow that was looming over the person's form from the rock that he was leaning upon, the person's feet and legs were the only visible part that Team Minato could see. Beside the unconscious body was the woman with the Slug mask, standing silently with her arms crossed over her chest.

"W-what do you mean our other teammate? We're the only members of Team Minato," Kakashi asked. Hands suddenly became clammy, and the loud thumping sound of his heart was becoming louder and louder in his ears.

The denial was on the tip of his tongue, but for some reason, the implication behind the fox ANBU's words lingered in his mind; strongly pushing through his thoughts of denial. His eyes were wide with suppressed hope.

The man in the fox mask loudly snorted at the teen's denial and gestured something towards the man in the dog mask. The brunette quietly complied with the silent command. Walking behind the rock, the dog ANBU crouched and picked up the unconscious body lying there.

The person had long raven hair, and the distinct colour of the Uchiha visible under the illuminating light of the bonfire.

As the masked man walked towards Team Minato, the team of three couldn't remove their gaze from the unconscious figure, eyes unwavering and had long since widened.

Minato's thoughts were frantic.

 _'It can't be… NO! He's dead! He died because you failed him!'_ He tried to argue with himself.

Clenching his eyes shut to push away the sudden hope.

 _'No, you can't think that he's… because if he really did survive that… then-'_ His eyes snapped open, intensely staring at the figure in the arms of the fake dog ANBU.

Future Kakashi quietly laid his unconscious best friend in front of his past team. The older Hatake couldn't help the frantic beating of his heart as he felt the raw emotion clawing in his chest, down to his flipping stomach, and the sudden lump in his throat.

He swallowed the overwhelming emotions, trying to hide his trembling hands as he stood up and retreated to his previous position. He shoved his hands inside his pockets to hide their shaking, shoulder slumped in his usual lazy posture. He looked calm on the outside, but inside, his emotions were choking him, threatening to drown him. He clenched his fists in his pockets. He was reaching his wit's end.

Naruto crouched beside Obito's unconscious figure, and under the intense stare of the shocked Team Minato, he gently brushed aside the hair draping over half of the Uchiha's face.

Rin's startled gasp and Kakashi's sharp intake of breath echoed throughout the cave. Minato went stone rigid, eyes wide as saucers as he stared in disbelief at the revealed face of the unconscious person.

Because here was their worst nightmare – Obito's face greeted them, showing the disfigured right side of his face as proof that he was buried under the rock where they left him.

 _'Left him… they left him.'_ The three of them shakily thought.

"O-Obito… " Young Kakashi hadn't even realized his breathless voice as he whispered his supposed dead teammate's name.

"I-is that really..." Rin whispered in disbelief, unable to continue what she wanted to say as she started to sob, putting a hand in her mouth to try to stifle the noises that were coming out of her mouth but failing miserably. Tears were streaming down her cheeks like waterfalls.

"Wake him up, Rin," The man in the fox mask urged softly. Rin looked at her sensei pleadingly, silently asking for permission.

It was fascinating to see how much respect his students gave the Namikaze.

 _'No matter how much the girl wanted to wake up her lost teammate, she still remembered to get her sensei's permission,'_ Naruto mused as he observed their interactions.

That was when Minato snapped out of his stupor.

"Kakashi-" Minato called out to his other student, trying to ask him to use the Sharingan to check if this was a Genjutsu or not, but his student understood him immediately. He cut him off before he could ask him to check.

"I already did Sensei, the first thing I did when I saw his face was to check him with the Sharingan. And there's no Genjutsu, Sensei. He really is Obito. His chakra seems a bit different from before, but it's definitely Obito. It's... Obito… he's… he's been alive all this time! And we… we left him there! We abandoned him! We abandoned him like he was some sort of trash to throw! We're worse than scum, damn it!" Teen Kakashi choked as he punched the ground in frustration, he couldn't help the struggling sound of his sobs as his tears dropped to the cold floor of the cave.

Future Kakashi watched his younger self in sympathy. He understood what he felt, he had the same sentiments when he found out. But compared to what he was feeling when he first laid eyes on his _alive_ best friend after so many years of grieving his death, he was at least lucky to not be able to witness Obito's betrayal. At least now, Obito was saved.

Minato clenched his fist, trying his best to contain all the overwhelming emotions that he was feeling.

 _'I'm their Sensei damn it! I need to be strong!'_ It was not yet time to wallow in self-pity. _'Your students needed you, Minato!'_ He mentally screamed to himself. The Yellow Flash took a deep breath and closed his eyes before he nodded at Rin.

"O-Okay Rin, wake him up." Rin hadn't needed more prompting. As soon as Minato gave his consent, her hand immediately glowed with the faint green color of the medical ninjutsu. She hovered her shaking hands in the unconscious Uchiha's face and waited with baited breath until he stirred.

Obito groaned as he felt the throbbing pain in his head.

"Argh! What hit me?" He questioned himself as he rubbed his head to soothe the pain and slowly blinked his eyes open, only to be greeted by Rin's tear-streaked face. The Uchiha abruptly shot up, grabbing the girl's face between his warm hands.

"Rin! Why are you crying? Are you okay?" He frantically questioned, trying to check her for injuries, unaware of the two shocked gazes directed at him.

Rin cried harder.

"Rin! What- _oof!_ " Obito was barely able to put a hand on the ground to steady the two of them as Rin suddenly launched herself at him, hugging him tightly like a lifeline. He blushed as he put a hesitant hand on her back.

"Obito!" Rin cried on his shoulder and the Uchiha was lost. He didn't know how to comfort her.

"I-It's alright Rin, I'm here," he whispered quietly. Feeling the lump in his throat, he swallowed it, as Rin moved away from him. He was tempted to grab her back to his chest but he refrained.

"Obito…" His eyes snapped towards the voice and his eyes widened when he saw Kakashi and his sensei looking at him as if he was a ghost. He vaguely registered the tears streaming down the Hatake's face and his eyes lit up.

"Bakashi! Minato-Sensei!" He happily greeted the other members of his team, but he was beyond surprised when Kakashi suddenly grabbed the front of his clothes – _"Oi!"_ – and abruptly hugged him.

Obito's mind short-circuited as his teammate, who was supposed to hate him, hugged and cried on his shoulder. _The_ Hatake Kakashi hugged him. Obito couldn't believe the sudden turn of events.

"O-Oi! Bakashi-" The Uchiha tried to protest, but he was cut off when the Hatake shoved him away so suddenly and started pointing at him.

"Obito, you asshole! How could you do that to us! How could you? Stupid dead last!" And Hatake Kakashi cried harder, like a toddler.

 _'What the hell happened to you!?'_ He wanted to ask frantically. Somehow, seeing a wailing Kakashi was a lot more horrifying than seeing a crying Rin.

He wanted to joke around, but he restrained himself. He needed to understand what his teammates were feeling right now. After all, they thought that he was dead all this time. Obito took a deep breath and put a hand on his teammate's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but you know I'm back!" He sincerely apologized and tried to lighten up the mood as he chuckled awkwardly.

"Asshole," teen Kakashi murmured with a watery smile at his teammate before the two of them fist-bumped. "Welcome back, dead last."

"Obito." That was all the warning that was given to him before someone else pulled him again for another tight hug.

 _"S-Sensei!"_ Obito squeaked, startled and beyond embarrassed from all the hugging he was receiving from each of his teammates and Sensei for the span of a few minutes.

"I'm glad that you're alive Obito. Thank _Kami_." Minato mumbled as he clutched his lost student in his chest. A few tears slipped from the blond's eyes as the overwhelming emotions of guilt, regret, failure, relief, and gratefulness clouded his heart and mind.

"S-Sensei…" The young Uchiha blurted out before the stinging in his eyes finally burst and tears rolled down his cheeks.

All the suffering that he had endured for months finally caught up to him and he suddenly clutched his Sensei's flak vest like a lifeline and started crying like he had never cried before. Kakashi and Rin followed suit, and Team Minato huddled and hugged each other after the tragic experiences of their team.

The survivors of the war-torn future quietly watched in the shadow, hearts clenching in pain at what they were witnessing right now. This was what was supposed to happen the first time around. Rin wasn't supposed to fall victim to suicide, and Kakashi wasn't supposed to be traumatized for killing his teammate. Obito wasn't supposed to turn evil and punish humanity, his father wasn't supposed to die and leave his only son orphaned.

There were so many things that went wrong. So many lives thrown away and destroyed, and this second chance – this opportunity gifted to them by the Sage of the Sixth Paths – was a gift: a miracle that they would take advantage of.

Naruto was suddenly filled with overwhelming satisfaction and utter happiness. His eyes stung as the tears threatened to fall, but he held it in. It was not yet time.

It took Team Minato a couple of minutes before they recovered. They were still sitting close with each other, but Minato had finally managed to compose himself and regain his serious expression.

"Well Obito, I'm glad that you're back, but we wanted to know what happened to you," Minato finally spoke after watching his students quietly with a small smile in his lips. Sadly, he needed to ask one of the most important questions.

"And do you know who these people are?" The blond added as he gestured towards the unknown people with them.

 _'Wait! Those masks!'_ Obito thought as his eyes widened in recognition.

"Y-you're the people I saw there! Who saved Kakashi and Rin! You're Konoha ANBU right?" He yelled in surprise at first, before a tone of uncertainty laced his voice at the end of his sentence.

"No, they're not." His Sensei denied, and the Uchiha's eyes widened.

"What? Then who are they? Why did they help us?" He rapidly questioned, "Wait, where's the person with a Bear mask?" He added confusedly, and Minato's eyes turned sharp.

"There's more of them?" He solemnly asked Obito as the masked figures stayed quiet, watching them in silence.

Obito squinted his eyes at the masked men, and abruptly widened before pointing a finger at the man in a snake mask.

"Hey! I didn't see any snake masks there," The teenager revealed and Minato's eyes seemed to gleam dangerously, but the masks Shinobi stayed relaxed. The young Namikaze's eye twitched.

"Bear is around, you'll see him later," The fox man said nonchalantly.

"Now before we explain our part, why don't you tell us your story Obito-chan?" The fox ANBU gleefully said.

Obito spluttered indignantly at the nickname, he could practically see the man's eyes smiling behind the two holes of his ANBU mask. And Obito was sure he heard the man in the Dog mask snorted loudly and tried to hide his masked face behind a green book.

"Oi! I'm a Konoha Shinobi! Don't make fun of me!" The 13-year-old Uchiha shouted and the fox man snickered.

"All right, let's move on to business, shall we?" He urged, laughter still dripping on his voice as Obito grumbled.

Minato's eye twitched twice at that. _'They're not taking me seriously. Who the hell are they to dismiss me as not a threat!?'_

"Why can't you explain first? You're more suspicious than my student," The blond Jounin asked, eyes narrowed but voice nonchalant.

"Well, our story will make more sense after Obito told his story," Obito frowned at the statement.

 _'What did they have to do with my predicament?'_ He thought confusedly before he sighed.

"Okay, I will tell you what happened to me. But you need to believe me even though it sounded so bizarre and unbelievable," Obito said nervously, fidgeting in his place.

His teammates and Sensei exchanged glances before they nodded. The Uchiha took a deep breath before he started recounting his story.

"I thought I was dead, you know. Being buried by those rocks. The pain had already numbed me, and I knew that I already lost a lot of blood. I was ready to die, and I was happy because I managed to save my teammates," He briefly paused to smile at his teammates who gave him a sad smile.

"I lost consciousness at some point, and when I woke up, I was inside a cave. My whole body was wrapped like a mummy. Since I just woke up, my mind was a bit fuzzy and incoherent, but I still remembered to check my surroundings to assess where I was. In the dark corner of the cave, I saw a man," He fidgeted uncomfortably in place, and Rin put a hand on top of his cold one. It gave him the courage to continue.

"He was sitting on a throne of some sort-" He frowned as he tried to picture the exact moment that his eyes landed on the man, "-I thought I was dead then, and the grim reaper had come to send me to the afterlife, or that I had met the Shinigami himself and was going to be guided to the realm of the dead. I even asked him if he was there to take me away. I tried my best not to show it, but I was already scared shitless." He visibly shivered as he recounted the very first time he blinked his eyes open and found himself in that cave.

His teammates let out a small snicker at that, commenting that: _'Only you, Obito would say something like that!'_ He grinned at them. His Sensei even gave him a fond smile.

"Then he told me that I wasn't dead yet and he had saved me. I was shocked and happy at the same time, and so I thanked him sincerely," Obito trailed off and he grimaced. He unconsciously tightened his hold on Rin's hand, seeking comfort. "But he told me that it was still too early for my gratitude and that his services were not free."

Minato's heart started beating rapidly inside his ribcage as his student continued his story. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about Obito's story.

"I asked him if he wanted help in scratching his back and getting groceries since he's old, but he told me that he didn't need that. I asked him his name and he answered the most bizarre and unbelievable thing," The teen indignantly said, as if he himself was still bewildered by what he found out.

"W-what's his name?" Rin whispered, her voice shook as she felt her hands become clammy. She squeezed Obito's hand as she felt it turn colder.

Obito stared at them seriously, and solemnly answered – _"Uchiha Madara."_ Rin gasped, Kakashi gaped, Minato looked alarmed.

"What!?" Minato couldn't help but to shout in disbelief.

 _'Did I just hear my student said that he was saved and healed by the most notorious missing-nin, traitor and enemy of the Leaf?'_ the blond thought incredulously.

"But he died ages ago! Hashirama-sama killed him! Are you sure that you're not just pulling our legs here?" Kakashi refuted his teammate's claim, forehead creased in disbelief.

The Uchiha shook his head, "No, it was him. Uchiha Madara. I can recognize that face anywhere I see it. Though he looked old, it was definitely Uchiha Madara."

Konoha's Yellow Flash felt his body go cold. His student spent months inside a cave, alone with Konoha's most notorious traitor, Uchiha Madara. What had his student undergone in the hands of that Uchiha for months?

Minato didn't want to think of anything. He really _really_ didn't want to think of anything.

The blond Namikaze mentally shook his worries away. _'Obito is not yet done retelling what happened. I'll listen to the whole story first before I conclude anything,'_ He tightly clenched his fist as he waited for his student to continue.

"D-did he do something bad to you?" Rin asked in a whisper and Obito frowned.

"That's what confused me. He told me that I will need to pay for his services. But he never asked me to do any of his biddings. Aside from him helping me train my limbs so that I could walk again, he had never asked me for an errand or for a favour. Not even once. Though he never allowed me to go out of the cave, aside from that, I spent my weeks there trying to recover. I could never go out of the cave even if I wanted to," The Uchiha said, grumbling at the end.

Kakashi frowned in worry, "Why couldn't you get out?" He asked.

"It's because of my limbs. I couldn't do anything but crawl for a few weeks, and there was a big boulder blocking the main entrance of the cave. Oh, and he replaced my limbs with the same body as the Zetsu's… " Obito said as he lifted his right arm and showed the white skin there. His team looked closely at his limbs and Rin even poked it.

"What is that?" The girl asked and Obito shrugged, "I don't really know. Before coming to rescue you, I used my artificial arm to punch the boulder. It only created a crack, and that arm was destroyed. It's a good thing Guruguru offered to use himself as my artificial limb- _Ah!_ Where's Guruguru?" The Uchiha's eyes shouted in sudden realization.

His partner was not with him. Where was he? Did he return to Madara? Obito's mind suddenly became frantic. _'Did he report the events that transpired to Madara?'_

"Guruguru? Who is that? And how did you know that we were in danger, Obito?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eyes at his teammate. Obito's expression immediately shifted from frantic to thoughtful contemplation.

"Well, I was training my body to move properly with the artificial limb that Madara put on my body when another of the Zetsu appeared and told me that you were in danger," The Uchiha said, forehead creasing in thought.

"Come to think of it. It's surprising that they would let me out of the cave to rescue you when they wouldn't even let me go back to Konoha to be with you guys, no matter how loud I shouted and demanded for them to take me back to Konoha, " Obito said with a frown, and the rest of Team Minato went silent.

The blond Jounin's mind was running a mile a minute as he thought of the distinct possibilities. When the man in the fox mask suddenly spoke.

"That's easy, he orchestrated Rin's kidnapping and freed you to 'rescue' your teammate. When in reality, he was hoping for Rin to die in front of you, knowing that her death will make you go insane, easy to manipulate, and definitely willing to follow through his plans." Team Minato snapped their heads towards the Fox man when he suddenly intervened.

Obito, Kakashi, and Rin's jaw went ajar at what the man had said, eyes widening in horror. The blond Jounin narrowed his eyes at the fake ANBU. _'What does he know about this?'_

"What do you mean? Why would I follow any of his plans if Rin died?" Obito demanded a bit frantically, bordering on hysteric.

"Obito…" Rin clasped both of her hands on his panicking teammate's, squeezing his hand in silent comfort.

 _'We're still here,'_ Her eyes seemed to convey. Young Kakashi put a comforting hand on the Uchiha's shoulder and clutched it tight.

Obito stared at both of them with tired, frightened eyes. _'What does he want from me? Why me?'_

"Because you're an Uchiha." A deep baritone voice of a man echoed throughout the cave, and Team Minato was startled. For the first time since the team's reunion, the man with a snake ANBU mask spoke.

"W-what do you mean? Why would me being an Uchiha matter?" Obito's voice became small. His anxiousness was engulfing his whole being. _"Why me? Why me?"_

"The Uchiha blood is cursed. And it's called _'The Uchiha Curse of Hatred'_ , as ancient as our ancestors, from our blood's real origin, Otsutsuki Indra. The second son of the Sage of the Six Paths." The young Uchiha couldn't do anything but gape at the masked man. It was the first time that he was hearing something like this.

"The Curse of Hatred was both an ideal and a curse of some sort that was common among the members of the Uchiha Clan and those of Uchiha Blood," The man said.

He walked towards the huddled members of Team Minato and situated himself beside the Fox ANBU, sitting with one knee propped up and an arm resting on top of it. Team Minato quietly watched the snake ANBU settle down before them..

"While the Uchiha are capable of being devoted to the ideals of love and friendship, they tend to hide these traits by being aloof and indifferent to those around them." His deep obsidian eyes shifted and bore through Obito's, "Maybe you're the anomaly of the clan, Obito, since you didn't act the same way as a normal Uchiha would." Obito's ears turned red in embarrassment at being addressed, and he crossed his arms in indignation.

"There's a lot of other things to do than mope around. And being a jerk like Bakashi is something I will never do," The young Uchiha huffed as chibi Kakashi hit the back of his head.

"Oi, that hurts!" Obito loudly complained, rubbing a hand on his aching head.

"Serves you right dead last," The 13-year-old Hatake deadpanned.

The fox ANBU let out a snicker, and the man in the Snake mask coughed once under his fist.

"Sorry, please continue," Obito apologized, glaring at his teammate in accusation. Kakashi shrugged as he focused his attention back towards the snake ANBU.

"As I was saying, because of the Curse of Hatred, when the object of an Uchiha's affection or obsession dies, the Uchiha in question will lose their love instantly and turn it into hatred. When this happens, the Uchiha will do anything and everything in their power to achieve their goals and to show off their superiority, regardless of the consequences and repercussions of their actions." Obito's eyes widened as realization slowly dawned on him.

"The despair and hatred of these experiences that the Uchiha gain over time will soon cause a chemical reaction in the form of unique chakra within their brain, affecting the optic nerves of their eyes and creating the fabled, yet dreaded Sharingan eyes of the Uchiha." Obito couldn't move as the man continued to speak.

"And since Madara is an Uchiha, he knew this curse to be true. So he was leaning on the possibility of Obito going mad with hatred because of Rin's death, and finally condemned the destruction of the Shinobi villages and its _'tainted'_ system," The fox ANBU concluded, and Obito's body suddenly felt so cold.

"How can you know these things? Do you work for Madara too?" Minato demanded as he levelled them with an icy glare.

The snake ANBU snorted, "Not in my life. I will never work for that scum," the raven-haired man answered. If he still had his other arm, he would have crossed his arms over his chest, but since he hadn't, he opted to clench his fist.

"Then how do you know-"

"The Eye of the Moon Plan," Obito's horrified murmur cut off Minato's attempt to interrogate the fake ANBU, and the blond shifted his attention towards his shocked looking student.

"Obito?" Rin softly whispered before she squeezed the Uchiha's hand again.

"Eye of the Moon Plan?" young Kakashi asked in confusion.

"He told me about The Eye of the Moon Plan once. He said that he will cast a powerful Genjutsu on the world using the moon and create a beautiful world where everyone lived through their dreams," Obito said, eyes wide in realization.

"He also said, and I quoted, ' _The longer you live, the more you realize reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness.'_ He told me that the Shinobi World is tainted and that this world will only bring pain and suffering, that he will make a world where happiness is permanent, and no more war and pain will grace humanity. Where true peace will be finally attained."

"That's bullshit. How can a world like that exist?" Kakashi said with a grimace.

"You're right, little Kakashi," The fox man cheerfully said.

Chibi Kakashi let out an indignant squawk. Obito snorted so loud that he choked on his own saliva. The fake ANBU in the dog mask let out a long, suffering sigh. The Fox ANBU didn't pay them any mind and just continued talking.

"A world like that is nothing but a fake world. The Moon Eye Plan would be nothing but a mere illusion. A dream that never existed. Untrue and fictitious. A made-up world created by a coward who refused to persevere, endure and fight through the pain and suffering. My mentor once told me that, 'W _hen people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow… and how you grow is up to you.'_ A world created by someone who refused to grow through pain and fight reality to attain peace can never bring true peace to the world. There is no shortcut to peace." The Fox ANBU's eyes suddenly hardened, and the three teenagers stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.

"Just because you're suffering, you made up an excuse to condemn the world and turn your back from reality. You choose to seek for something immediately attainable, but illusive. As one of my closest friends once said, ' _Peace under an illusion is not true peace. It's only meaningful if the real world manages to accomplish it.'_ I refused to believe in a world of illusion. I'll rather die fighting the harsh reality through pain and suffering to accomplish peace than to rely and live my life in fiction and a nonexistent world," The man stood up, and look down on Team Minato, exuding a powerful presence that caused them to unconsciously listen more attentively and remembered every word uttered in their hearts and mind. Such were Uzumaki Naruto's effects with people.

"Why are you going to turn your back in the real world when reality holds the true meaning of love and happiness, real memories you shared with the important people in your life. Are you willing to exchange your real memories with fakes? I rather treasure them in my heart and fight harder with the memory of them as my pillar in striving for the world of true peace than to live in harmony with them inside a fake world with their fake memories and fake faces." The passionate speech was met with stunned silence. Team Minato stared at the fox ANBU in a new light, wide eyes boring through his mask, body rigid and unmovable.

Then finally, Uchiha Obito managed to speak.

"H-how did you know this? How did you know so much?" The young Uchiha stuttered, and the rest of the Team stared at him expectantly. Even Namikaze Minato was left speechless. He hadn't expected to hear such strong belief with achieving true peace from the fake fox ANBU, greater even than his Sannin Sensei's, Jiraiya.

"How did I know this?" The fox ANBU echoed the teenager's question, "It's because we lived through the horror of this once, and survived."

"W-what?" Kakashi whispered incredulously, his mind already reeling and went on overdrive as he tried to decipher the meaning behind the ANBU's cryptic worlds.

"What do you mean by that?" Minato demanded, voice sharp with fleeting confusion.

"Exactly how it sounds like. We lived through the horror of Madara's Moon Eye Plan coming through fruition, and the world was engulfed by darkness as every single person in the world slept inside a fake world of peace. We experienced first hand the devastating start of the Fourth Shinobi War, where the whole Elemental Nation fought together to stop Madara's plan of casting a worldwide Genjutsu to achieve his fake world. The Infinite Tsukuyomi," The ANBU's voice wasn't too loud, but for the stricken Team Minato, his voice seemed to boom in their ears and around the cave.

"W-What-" Rin stuttered.

"-the hell... " Obito's voice trailed off.

"Yes, you guessed it right. We know this because we came from the future."

_**To be continued…** _

* * *

**A/N:** Before you complain about the sudden reveal, I wanted to say that: "Things happened for a reason."

 **REVIEW**!

_**-SyrinxSilenus** _


	5. Chapter 4: The Time Travelers

_**The Future In Our Hands** _

_**Chapter 4: The Time Travelers** _

Silence reigned over the cave. No one spoke, and it seemed like even the tiniest of movements was forbidden.

Minato expected many things when he teleported to rescue his remaining students. He had braced himself for the worst. To lose one or even both his students.

He hadn't expected to meet a group of men–and one woman–parading as fake ANBU operatives of his village. He also hadn't expected to _regain_ his previously dead student–who wasn't really dead–with the help of said fake ANBU operatives.

When he finally thought it was the time to interrogate these men, he hadn't expected the fake fox ANBU to spout exceedingly ridiculous, yet inspiring, things. To hear such conviction coming from a person hiding behind a fake ANBU mask was highly disturbing, especially since his ideals sounded a lot more admirable and his conviction seemed stronger than even his own Sensei. He really didn't know what to think. When the fox ANBU started talking, Minato really felt like believing him. That somehow, _he–the fox ANBU_ –could gain peace for the entire elemental Nation.

Minato had expected many things, but he hadn't even considered _this._

"I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say that you," he gestured towards the fake Fox ANBU and the rest of his companion, "are from the future," he slowly said. Mind still reeling and questioning what he had eaten that morning to warrant this kind of hallucination.

The Fox ANBU's eyes twinkled in glee underneath his mask as he stared at him.

"That's probably true because that's what I just said," the man chirped, amusement laced in his voice.

"Bullshit," Minato deadpans. He stood up, followed by his students and the man in the Snake mask. His face was carefully blank as he stared directly at the fake ANBU. He had enough of all their avoidance.

"How could I trust your words when I don't even know the name or the face of the person I'm talking to?" Minato said, eyebrow raised. The masked people shifted and exchanged a few meaningful glances before they directed a questioning stare at the fake fox ANBU.

 _'Ah, so he really is the leader of this group.'_ With that realization, Minato directed his icy stare at the man.

"You must have misunderstood me. The reason why I'm even talking to you in a civilized manner is because I'm grateful for your help with saving my students, but my generosity has a limit."

* * *

Naruto stared at the 23-year-old version of his father. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that he was literally older than his father. The fact was disturbing, but time travel defied all logic out there, so he should really learn to accept this.

Now, for the current problem they had on their hands. He could practically _feel_ the expectant gazes of his comrades. How _generous_ of them to leave all the work to him.

Naruto sighed.

_'Well, I guess it's now or never.'_

He let out a snort and couldn't help the quiet chuckle that came out of his throat. Which garnered an irritated twitch from his father.

Really, this situation was awkward, yet Naruto felt giddy. This was his father, after all. No matter how old Namikaze Minato was, he would always love and idolize him, and although he was currently 33-years-old–more than a decade older than his father–he still couldn't help the feeling of anticipation, along with a sliver of nervousness that enveloped him.

"You think this is funny?" His father was getting irritated, and Naruto couldn't help but feel scolded, even though his father had misunderstood the reason for his mirth.

He may not have grown up with the loving care of his parents, but as a parent himself, the sound of annoyance lacing his father's voice was enough to make him feel like a child again.

He cleared his throat.

"No, no," he waved his hands in denial as he tried to placate his ticked off father, "It's just… this situation, it's a bit, ah–awkward for me, yet I can't help but feel giddy at the same time." He let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck.

His comrades stayed silent, letting him handle the current situation. He was talking with his father after all. Konoha's greatest hero–well, before he was born that is–and future Fourth Hokage.

* * *

Minato's eyebrow shot up his hairline in surprise at the unexpected admittance. His students stared at each other with uncertainty, looking as if they had no clue what was going on; confused, yet, curious with what the Fox ANBU was saying.

"Of course, I expected your skepticism with what I just revealed. Perfect Time Travel is an impossible concept to execute. One that no one had ever accomplished, even though the theory was _there._ However, I'm not without proof. The masks that we are wearing were to avoid unwanted attention earlier in our arrival. Though, we didn't plan to stay hidden forever. After all, our appearances are evidence enough to our claim, but I would like to provide you with something that you can never deny."

Minato looked at the fake ANBU with unhidden mistrust and skepticism. Yet, there was an ounce of curiosity and anticipation about what the masked man was going to show him. He could feel his students shuffling closer eagerly, and the blond couldn't help but mentally sigh. His students had adopted his inquisitive manner, sometimes he couldn't help but feel exasperated with all the bad habits they were picking up from him more often than the good things he was attempting to teach them. Mentally pushing his thoughts on his students aside, he directed his focus to the masked man.

"What are you going to show me?" he asked with a neutral voice, trying his best to remove any ounce of interest from his tone.

* * *

"Hmm, I don't know if any of your students are aware of this, but I know that you know about _this_ ," Naruto slowly lifted his hand up as he carefully summoned Kurama's chakra, "...chakra, and that the owner of this chakra was supposed to be safe, back in the village."

As Kurama's orange chakra slowly engulfed his whole hand, the Nanadaime watched as his father's facial expression morphed from flabbergasted to utter disbelief.

"W-what… This–this chakra...How did–"

"In our future, someone would free the Nine-Tails from his jailor, controlling him against his will, and wreaking havoc in the village." Minato stared incredulously at the orange chakra in his hands before the man's gaze flickered up to his eyes. The rest of team Minato looked at him in horror. Murmuring a string of incoherent mumblings, _"Nine Tails?", "The legendary Tailed Beast?","The Kyuubi No Kitsune?"_

"Control? I didn't know of anyone who is capable of controlling the Kyuubi since Uchiha Madara," The blond asked, forehead creasing and eyes narrowed.

"Well, considering Madara is the one who orchestrated the attack–though he had manipulated someone to do the act–of course, such a thing could happen." Naruto flippantly replied and his father stared at him incredulously.

"Uchiha Madara orchestrated the Kyuubi's attack!?" Minato exclaimed. "But I thought he was dead!"

Naruto's eyes flickered over Obito briefly, "Well, as we have established, he's still alive and he's the one who saved Obito."

Obito nodded, frowning as he thought of the possibilities. "That asshole is so old now though, so it's understandable that he needed to have a pawn to do his bidding, but who could Madara use to free and control the Kyuubi in his stead–" the Uchiha paused before his eyes briefly widened. Carefully, he shifted towards the fake Fox ANBU, his hands were shaking and he felt the blood draining from his face.

"Fox-san, you mentioned earlier that Madara wanted to use my grief from Rin's death to manipulate me into going along with his plan," he licked his dry lips as he tried his best to steady his voice, "Am I, responsible–" Obito's question was cut off as a hand landed on top of his head.

"Now, now Obito-chan, you don't need to worry about that. Future events should be discussed later once introductions are finished, and don't worry your pretty little head over those details. After all, you're here now ain'tcha? What's important now is the present. No use mulling over things that will never happen." Obito grimaced while tears started leaking out of his eyes and he immediately rubbed them using his sleeves. Rin and Kakashi comforted him as Naruto patted his head.

Minato, after he managed to collect himself from all the information he had found out, stared sadly at his student and soothingly rubbed Obito's back in comfort. "He's right Obito, what's important right now is you're finally here with us again."

"Yes, Sensei," Obito sniffled as he replied. His teammates crowded around him to convey their support.

Naruto smiled underneath his mask before he continued speaking. "Hm, on to where I left off." The members of team Minato refocused their attention on him, but this time, they stayed connected with each other through their linked fingers, refusing to let go of one another.

"So in order to stop the Kyuubi and its blind rage, you sealed half of its power into a newly born baby, and half inside yourself. Trapping your soul inside the Shinigami's stomach in the process."

* * *

Minato paled at the Fox ANBU's narration. To seal his own soul inside the Shinigami. It must have been one hell of a sealing technique. Just thinking about the prospect of the Kyuubi escaping from Kushina's seal to wreak havoc in Konoha was terrifying enough for him to foresee losing a lot of sleep in the following days.

He was brought out from his disturbing thoughts when a rustle of clothes from the fake Fox ANBU alerted him of his movements. His cerulean eyes shifted from its unfocused gaze to the hand that was moving up towards the man's mask, and that was when he realized that, _'He's going to remove his mask?'_

Suddenly, his attention zeroed in on him, keen eyes following his every move as the man slowly lifted his left hand towards the fake ANBU mask that concealed his face.

* * *

 _'It's now or never.'_ Naruto thought as he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Seriously, why was this so hard to do? He was just going to reveal his face to his not-so-old-man. This was supposed to be easy. _This_ was his _father_ after all.

It took all his Shinobi training to remove the anxiety from his body and steel himself to complete the deed and be done with it. He had a lot of things to explain, and _way_ more planning to do. Making sure that his father would cooperate with them was one of his most important goals, one that they needed to accomplish.

His fingers touched the cool surface of the mask created by his clones with the materials they had acquired from the market. Naruto could practically feel the intense gazes directed at the hand on his mask from team Minato, radiating anticipation and curiosity; he couldn't help but smirk underneath his mask, despite his nervousness.

_'Ahh, I wish I had a camera.'_

* * *

The light created by the bonfire and the two torches had helped brighten the whole cave, allowing them to see everything around, even though the outside world was already enveloped by the darkness of night.

He couldn't be more thankful for that as his trained eyes could focus on the fox mask that concealed the identity of the leader of the fake ANBU. He clearly saw the sudden poof of smoke that revealed the true color of the man's hair. Blond, the exact same color of his hair.

Minato blinked once. _'What?'_ He could practically feel the side-eye glances that his students sent his way– specifically to his own mop of blond hair. Then slowly, the mask was lifted from the man's face and they all watched as the mysterious masked man finally revealed his face.

The first thing Minato noticed was the brilliant cerulean eyes that stared steadily at him–the same eyes that greeted him every time he looked in the mirror. The hair too, looked almost exactly like _his_ , though a bit different in length and style,

Minato took note of the prominent whisker marks visible on both of his cheeks that clearly resembled a cat's whiskers. He traced every feature of his face with his eyes, noting that the man seemed to be in his early 30s and that his face looked familiar to him. Aside from the fact that he could pass as Minato's father or any of his close relatives, there was something in his overall appearance that nudged him to reach out towards the man and touch his cheek. He just couldn't understand why he was feeling a strong connection that he had never felt before... until his addled brain managed to register _who_ the man resembled.

The very familiar features that he had learned to love and wished to gaze at every minute of his waking hours was in front of him on another person's face. _'Kushina's face...with my… coloring,'_ his brain thought absentmindedly.

His brain automatically came up with possible explanations, and he tried his best to push those thoughts away, to deny what was in front of his very eyes. Keyword, _'try',_ because no matter how hard he tried to reject the idea, he was smart enough to conclude that the only reason for that–that person to have those features as if–if he was…

Minato choked, "H-how… I-I, w-who are you?"

The now revealed blond hummed, letting out a soft smile as he looked at him with… fond eyes.

"I'm called by many names. Knucklehead, Konoha's hero. War hero, but well," the still-unnamed man shrugged, then he straightened out and his lips stretched into a blinding grin, one that he was _very_ familiar with. _'Kushina's exuberant trademark grin… '_

There was another poof of smoke as his ANBU attire disappeared and revealed an orange sweatshirt with three black stripes from the hips lined up to the hem of his shirt, paired with plain shinobi black pants. A white cape that has a red flame pattern around the hem was draped securely on his shoulder and was held together by a red rope.

He vaguely heard the startled exclamation of: _"Ah! Y-you look like a mix of Minato-Sensei and Kushina-nee!"_ with a pointing finger from Obito, Rin's murmur of disbelief, _"By the gods… "_ and the sharp intake of breath from Kakashi. But he felt like he was underwater, he couldn't match their reaction or properly focus on them, he was too busy dealing with his own emotions.

Against his better judgment, he was suddenly engulfed by a feeling of awe and an unexplainable pull, a surge of affection towards the person in front of him. The man standing now looked like a mix of him and… _Kushina… '_ His mind ran a mile a minute, his insides shaking in utter disbelief. _'T-this person… this person is–'_

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, currently 33-years-old. Ninja registration no. 012607. The only son of Konoha's Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, Uzumaki Kushina."

Minato took a sharp intake of breath that he ended up choking on, hands trembling and becoming clammy as he heard the confirmation coming from the man himself, the same conclusion that he was trying to deny since he saw that face.

"Taken under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi..."

Young Kakashi suddenly jolted at hearing his name, eyes wide in disbelief as his two teammates turned to gape at him, _"You became a Jounin Sensei Kakashi!"_ Obito exclaimed, flabbergasted while Kakashi became stone cold.

"...and Jiraiya the Toad Sannin."

Minato's heart was beating so fast inside his rib cage that he was afraid that everyone could hear it. The man, his _future son_ –he still couldn't wrap his head around the idea–continued his shocking revelations without qualms about his poor heart and sanity.

"Konoha's most unpredictable ninja, a member of the new Densetsu no Sannin, and…" he paused, eyes gleaming with a sense of _power_ and conviction, one that he had seen in his own Kage so many times during a mission debrief, that he couldn't help but unconsciously straighten his back at attention as the man stared directly at him.

"The Nanadaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato," he twisted his body, revealing the whole appearance of the cape draped on him. As if being swept by a gust of wind, the cape flowed; completely showing the red flaming pattern around the hem, and the big kanji written vertically down the cape: _**七代目火影**_ **(Nanadaime Hokage).**

Minato felt his knees go weak, and he unconsciously took a step back. _"Kami-sama."_ He put a hand on his face and ran it downwards in a clear sign of his lost composure.

"Hmm, if this is still not enough to persuade you that we came from the future... don't worry, I still have a lot of evidence to show you," The man, _Naruto_ said this with an easy grin that garnered a yelp of: _"And he also has Sensei's grin!"_ from Obito that caught the 33-year-old man's attention.

"Well, I can't help that," Naruto uttered, laughing a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck the same way Minato himself did every time he was embarrassed or garnering a lot of attention and compliments from others, which was confirmed by Obito's exclamation of: _"That too!"_

The man, his name was _Naruto._ Kushina and he had named—Minato's mind short-circuited again. He and Kushina had a son– _will_ have a son in the future, and said future-son was currently standing in front of him; apparently more than a decade older than him now. _'Kami-sama,_ _I didn't sign up for this!'_

"Let me get this straight…" he put a hand on his aching forehead, rubbing it twice with his cold fingers, "You time traveled from the future," a nod, "and you're my son–from the future?"

"Yup!" the time traveler cheerily answered.

Minato felt another migraine brutally assaulting him. "Pardon me, this is hard to take in," he said as he crouched in front of them, his students following suit, cautiously sitting beside him.

"Take your time. I know it's hard to take in, my comrades were also surprised when I informed them of our current situation earlier today," Naruto said with an easy grin on his lips. The exasperated Namikaze heard a snort coming from the still masked snake ANBU.

"With you, we have long since learned that _normal_ and _logic_ don't apply. I will believe any bizarre situation as long as you're involved," The raven-haired man said, which prompted a few nods of approval from the Dog and Slug ANBU.

Naruto pouted.

"I can't help it if everything that happens in my life is extraordinary. I just learned to adapt!" he said with a shrug.

"Right," the Snake ANBU dryly said.

Minato cleared his throat, "So, if you're my son from the future, then who are the others?" he said, eyeing the remaining masked figures curiously.

He took note of the sudden shift that the Dog ANBU did and the mischievous grin that appeared on his...ah, future son's face– _still having a hard time wrapping his mind around that._

"Well, of course, you wanted to know!" Naruto chirped happily, _too_ happily, while he clapped his hands in front of him once. A glint of mischief in his cerulean eyes– _'Oh gods, he looks like Kushina when she's on a pranking spree!'_ His mind frantically supplied.

"Go on Sasuke, let's leave the best for last!" There was an audible groan coming from the Dog ANBU, a _"Tch!"_ from the Slug, and a low _"Hn."_ from Snake.

 _Now_ he was extremely interested, and the sudden shift from his students and their huge eager stares indicated that they were too.

Snake casually removed his mask, and a poof of smoke later, the fake ANBU snake was revealed, with his glorified lone Sharingan activated.

 _"Ah! An Uchiha!"_ Obito screamed in delight as he pointed a finger at the now unconcealed person. "That's why you know a lot about our clan!"

"Aa, I'm Uchiha Sasuke. One of the Densetsu no Sannin, my Jounin Sensei is also, Hatake Kakashi," young Kakashi was choking on thin air now, "and Orochimaru of the Snake Sannin–", _"Orochimaru!?"_ a yell of incredulity from Obito. _"He's also known as the Sasaukage!"_ Sasuke shot his blond friend a glare at his interruption which was answered by a bright grin.

"Hn. I'm the second son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Itachi is my older brother." Sasuke finished, face remaining perfectly calm even as the younger members of Team Minato openly gawked at him.

"You're little Itachi's brother! The same Itachi who conned me to buy him dango every week!" Obito exclaimed with a horrified expression, finger-pointing at the newly revealed Uchiha.

"Obito, you're too loud." Rin half-heartedly scolded.

 _"But_ Rin!" The 14-year-old Kunoichi feigned ignorance with her teammate's outburst, eyeing the adult Uchiha instead and blushing a little as Sasuke let out a rare kind of smirk.

No one could blame the girl though, Uchiha Sasuke was an _extremely_ handsome man, much more than your average pretty-faced Uchiha.

"So he does those kinds of things too," The 30-something-year-old Uchiha said amusedly.

Naruto chuckled a little before he directed his gaze to the remaining two. He grinned wider as the remaining masked ninja glared at him.

"Now, these two are another evidence that can back up my claim. Their existence alone shouldn't be possible and the little complications and consequences of their presence here in the past will be addressed soon but for now, let me introduce Slug to you."

The addressed Slug snorted. "You really love your dramatics, brat. Tch, I swear you got that from Jiraiya, that idiot."

That comment was replied by a hearty laugh. "Of course, he's my mentor and godfather."

Hearing this revelation, Minato murmured: _"Sensei, a godfather? What was I thinking?"_ a little horrified by the idea. Slug snorted, signifying that she heard his little comment.

She calmly walked towards them as she put a hand on her mask; without any suspense, a poof engulfed her and she casually removed it, revealing very familiar honey brown eyes, light blond hair tied in two distinct ponytails behind her head as she put a hand on her hip while tilting her head to the side with an amused smirk on her pink lips.

No one dared to move, Minato felt frozen on the spot as he processed the identity of the person in front of him.

"T-T-Tsunade-sama!" Rin exclaimed in surprise, hands clasped in front of her as she openly ogled her. Let it be known that Nohara Rin was (is) an avid fan of the legendary Slug Princess. She was her inspiration and role model. So her dreamy expression was understandable as well as the gaping faces of Kakashi and Obito.

"Hm, well Naruto, it looks like I have more fans than you," The now revealed Senju Tsunade of the _freakin_ Sannin said, tilting her head towards Naruto. _Wait, 'They're addressing each other casually, does my son have a close relationship with the Senju Princess?'_ Minato thought in astonishment.

"Aww, no fair Baa-chan!"

 _"Baa-chan!?"_ this flabbergasted exclamation came from himself and Obito.

His supposed son had just called Senju Tsunade, the most competent Medical Ninja, one of the most feared Kunoichi in the Elemental Nations, the Princess of the Senju clan, _Baa-chan!_

"You're more popular in this time period anyway." The grown man pouted.

"Ahh…" Minato intelligently uttered, he felt like he was supposed to reprimand him as a good parent for disrespecting his elders, but he was a decade older than him! _'Argh! This situation is too much of a headache for me to handle!'_

"Hmph, as you all figured out. I'm Senju Tsunade, member of the first generation of the Densetsu no Sannin, of course under the tutelage of the second God of Shinobi and… the former Godaime Hokage of Konoha."

Now _that_ was another shocking revelation of the night. If possible, Rin's eyes turned into hearts _"Godaime-sama!",_ and surprisingly, the one who exclaimed next was his almost comatose student, Kakashi. _"We have two Hokage's with us?!"_ Which earned him a few snorts from the now revealed Sasuke-san and Lady Tsunade, with a loud guffaw from Naruto.

"Oh, this is getting interesting!" Minato looked suspiciously at his son as he rubbed his hands together in a manner scarily similar to Kushina's evil scheming face.

"To be in the presence of two Hokage is an honor, and quite honestly humbling. Seriously… I don't know how to really react," Minato said with a small reluctant smile, remembering the way he tried to scare them off earlier.

 _Now_ he understood their attitude towards his petty attempt of intimidation. Seriously, _him_ trying to intimidate two Kages? Yellow Flash or not, he was so below their league, and thinking about it now–he couldn't help the feeling of embarrassment creeping from his neck up to his ears.

 _'Seriously Minato? You're pathetic! And such an embarrassment! What would Kushina say to you? She'll be sure to laugh at my face and she would never let me live this down.'_ Minato internally groaned.

"Coming from you, that's quite funny, actually," Lady Tsunade said as his future son chuckled in amusement.

Minato blinked. "What?" he dumbly asked, which earned him a snort from the still masked Dog ANBU and two smirks from Lady Tsunade and Sasuke-san, plus a full out laughter from his son.

He exchanged confused glances with Obito and Rin, but Kakashi's eye briefly widened.

"Hmm, according to my estimation. A few days after your return from this mission, Sandaime-jiji is going to appoint you as Konoha's Yondaime Hokage." This was enthusiastically reported by his son as he grinned at him so wide.

"Ahh… " he dumbly said. Mind screeching to a halt as the words slowly sink in, as if the world slowed down to a snail pace, echoed in his inner consciousness: _'You as Konoha's Yondaime Hokage, You as Konoha's Yondaime Hokage, Konoha's Yondaime Hokage, Yondaime, Yondaime, Yondaime.'_

_~YON~DAI~ME~_

Minato's world stopped, stuttered to a grinding halt, and rebooted and restarted all together again.

"Ah, I think you guys completely broke Sensei," Rin said as she and Obito poked his still form.

"Does he need a few minutes?" Sasuke-san asked, but he was still very much in la-la land, unable to comment.

"Sensei."

*poke*

*poke*poke*

*poke*poke*poke*

*poke*poke*poke*poke-

He snapped out of his stupor as he was repeatedly assaulted by his students with finger pokes. Even _Kakashi_ joined the assault!

"R-right. I'm back. Sorry about that. It's just… me, as Hokage?"

Naruto snickered. "Of course, I came from the lineage of Hokages! No surprise there."

"Oh… " Minato dumbly replied. Still reeling from the onslaught of information revealed to him. He never imagined thinking this in his life but, at this moment, he felt like he really needed sake to handle this.

There was a scoff. "Yes, you're supposed to come from the lineage of legendary and smart people, but your genetics are defective and you became the stupidest Hokage that ever graced Konoha," Sasuke-san said, crossing his arms as he stared at his friend.

"Oi! I matured."

"Yes," Sasuke murmured, eyebrow raised, _"mature."_

Tsunade coughed behind her fist, face deadpanned as the two _mature_ men bickered in front of them.

"You both need to mature. Hmp, we're down to the final member." Naruto's eyes shifted from defensive to gleeful in the span of a second, Minato blinked again. _'What's with the Dog ANBU that garners such a reaction from his own comrades?'_

All eyes drifted towards the quiet masked man who was trying his best to impersonate a deaf person while he buried his nose in his book.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi, clocking in at 48-years-old, sweatdropped as he felt all the gazes zeroed in on him. He tried his best to ignore their piercing stares and buried his nose in his book that he hadn't been reading since the arrival of his (former?) Sensei.

"Neh, should I call your name now?"

Kakashi put down his book and glanced at his former student as he heard the hidden mischief lacing his tone. He internally sighed.

Really, maybe Naruto would be the death of him.

"Alright," he mumbled, as he straightened from the cold wall that he was leaning on, slouching his shoulder and walking towards his audience, quite slowly.

He stopped beside Tsunade-sama and sighed heavily.

"Do I really need to be introduced? They have enough evidence," he drawled lazily. The stares that he got from his comrades answered his complaints.

"Right, stupid question," he mumbled, before he flicked his gaze towards the young version of his team. His eyes lingered on Obito that caused a look of confusion from the teenager.

Team Minato stared at him expectantly, he could also see the suppressed amusement from his comrades.

_'I'm really honored to be the source of your entertainment.'_

Somehow, he could also feel the intense look he was receiving from the hidden people in the depths of the cave. Under the protective barrier of Naruto's fuinjutsu seal was the rest of their time-traveling comrades, without a doubt enjoying the show that they were watching. They could hear and see them after all. The only ones who couldn't, were the people on the other side of the barrier.

He didn't know when he would merge with his past self, but he hoped that they would have enough time to inform team Minato of this development before it happens.

_'Well, I better get this over with.'_

He grabbed the only thing that concealed his face from the younger version of his team. His fingers touched the cold plane of the mask and after a few seconds of hesitation, he proceeded to remove it from his face. At the same time, he released the henge surrounding his person; revealing his silver hair that defied gravity. He wore Konoha's redesigned flak jacket with a red armband on his left bicep.

Silence…

He eye-smiled and greeted them gleefully.

"Yo!"

"A-AH!" Obito seemed to choke on his own exclamation and remained frozen. No one dared to move after that though.

"Me?" Kakashi whispered faintly, looking dazed.

Silence…

He sweatdropped as he looked at the slack-jawed appearances of the younger versions of his team, with Obito's jaw further down than everyone else. His 12-year-old self looked like he was having a stroke. Rin's eyes seemed to bulge out from their sockets. Minato-Sensei's soul seemed to evacuate his body momentarily.

48-years-old Kakashi felt like pouting. Seriously, he got the worst reaction among his comrades. How was that supposed to be fair? He stared exasperatedly at his blond student who was trying his best to stifle his laughter. Cheeks visibly red and tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. Kakashi felt appalled.

"Well, there goes my introduction. Call me later Naruto." He turned away, hands buried deep inside his pocket as he lifted a foot forward but abruptly stopped as he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Lifting a lazy eye towards the owner of the hand, he was met by honey brown eyes filled with amusement.

"Where are you going Rokudaime-sama?" _'The fun is just starting.'_ Tsunade's eyes seemed to say. He sweatdropped.

 _"R-Rokudaime-sama!?"_ Obito screamed incredulously as his brain seemed to start functioning again. His younger self looked to be having a cardiac arrest.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes seemed to gleam with unhidden amusement. His former blond student waved his hand dismissively.

"She's kidding!" he said with a cheeky grin which didn't look convincing at all.

Kakashi sweatdropped.

 _'They're clearly enjoying this.'_ He deadpanned, eyes lazily shifting towards the younger version of Team Minato. They were still looking at him incredulously.

"Yeah, Kaka-sensei, You didn't even introduce yourself!" Naruto chirped cheerfully.

* * *

Minato was already bombarded by many revelations tonight. One, he was now a father of a thirty-something man who came from the future, and that future-son of his was apparently the Nanadaime Hokage of Konoha, and then he met Fugaku and Mikoto's second future son, plus Lady Tsunade who was the Godaime Hokage of Konoha in the future. He was also informed of his future enactment after this disastrous mission as the Yondaime Hokage.

Seriously, he was all but ready to pass out sometime soon. But it seemed like his heart attacks wouldn't stop anytime soon, because standing in front of them now was the future version of his other student. His gravity-defying silver hair was the same as his 12-year-old self, same dark eyes, and same features, except for one thing. He had two functioning eyes.

Minato blinked. He observed the adult version of his student and watched as he pouted. Wait, he clearly looked like he was pouting! But Kakashi doesn't pout! He side-eyed the 12-year-old version of his student and saw the horrified expression plastered over his face.

Future Kakashi eyed them lazily. Hands still inside his pockets and shoulders slouched.

"Maa, I don't think I need any introductions." A look from Naruto shut him up, and Minato blinked again, _'What? So my future-son has that kind of control over his own Sensei?'_

He was a bit confused. Naruto may be the Nanadaime Hokage, but it looked like these people clearly respected him on a different level. Even though they bantered like old comrades, the air around his future-son was different. Even Lady Tsunade seemed to hold a lot of respect for him. _'How… curious.'_

Future Kakashi sent them an eye-smile which was a bit creepy considering their Kakashi doesn't smile.

"Y-y-y-you're an imposter! There's no way Kakashi would act as lazy and carefree as you! And what's with your greetings!?" Obito finally exploded, and Minato couldn't help but silently agree. Young Kakashi crossed his arms and nodded solemnly.

"There's no way I'll look that stupid," Kakashi said, arms crossed over his chest and brows creased with irritation which elicited a guffaw from his future-son.

"Oh man, Sensei. Even your younger self is embarrassed by you! Wait 'til they found out about your other quirks!" Naruto said between his laughs.

"Maa Naruto, stop patronizing your Sensei won't you? I miss the days I could assign you to D-rank missions. My, where did the years go." Future-Kakashi said cheerfully, hands clamped together. The younger version of team Minato looked like they had seen a ghost.

 _'There's just no way, Kakashi would act like that!'_ Rin and Obito screamed in their minds.

Minato sweatdropped, looking at the older version of his student. There was a gleam in future-Kakashi's eyes that immediately shut his future-son up and garnered a slight kick from Sasuke-san.

_"Ouch! The hell Sasuke!"_

Sasuke-san hissed something towards Naruto that Minato didn't catch. He saw his son sweatdrop, side-eyeing the older Hatake before he pouted and crossed his arms like a fuming child.

Minato wondered what kind of blackmail material that future-Kakashi had over his former Genin team. The kind of mirth this Kakashi was exuding was disturbing. A sadistic streak that he sometimes emanated towards his own students whenever he was feeling a bit vindictive.

 _'Huh, did Kakashi get that from me?'_ Minato pondered.

"W-wait! Are you really future-Kakashi?" Rin asked carefully, warily looking at the older man.

Older Kakashi stared at Rin, and there was an onslaught of emotion that passed through his dark eyes. Sadness, regret, guilt, and fondness. Minato was baffled by what he saw.

 _'Did, something happened to Rin in the future?'_ As soon as the question came to him, so did the answer. He remembered what happened today. About Rin jumping on Kakashi's **Chidori** to kill herself. Minato was again reminded that without the interference of the time travelers, he would have less than one student standing.

"Hm, I am indeed who I appear to be, though I have to say Obito-chan," there was a squeak of indignation coming from the addressed teenager, "You can't expect the same personality from a person who's 34 years older than you," Future Kakashi said mirthfully, and Minato gawked.

"W-what!? How old exactly are you now!?" Kakashi exclaimed in shock and Obito nodded in agreement, eyes wide.

"Hm, I guess an introduction is really in order." Elder Kakashi shifted, right hand coming out from his pocket. He straightened as his eyes lazily scanned them. Then he eye-smiled again.

"Yo! Names Hatake Kakashi, Ninja registration no. 009720. As of now, I'm already 48-years-old–"

"WHAT!" Obito exclaimed

"48-years-old?" Rin murmured in disbelief.

"Why yes, did I say another age?" **48-year-old** Kakashi affirmed happily.

Minato exchanged glances with Rin and Obito before their eyes landed on 12-year-old Kakashi.

"What?" younger Kakashi asked irritatedly.

"Are you some sort of immortal Kakashi? You don't look any older than 20!" Obito yelled at his teammate, looking affronted. Rin nodded in accordance.

"You look so young," Rin said, looking dazed as her cheeks tinged with pink. Young Kakashi remained silent. Quietly assessing his counterpart with the crease on his forehead rapidly increasing.

"Hm, so I'm told," The elder Kakashi said, eye smiling again, "Maa, where was I?"

"You just mentioned your age," Minato automatically replied, still astonished at the older version of his student.

"Right! As my not-so-little students informed you, I'm the former Jounin Sensei of the Legendary Team 7."

The pride that laced the older man's voice here was undeniable, Minato noted. He guessed that considering the accomplishments of his students, even _he_ would be proud.

"I'm called many things: Kakashi of the Sharingan, Copy Ninja Kakashi, Hero of the Sharingan, cold-blooded Kakashi…" the man said this while putting out a finger in each moniker, looking like he was just reporting the weather. Team Minato continued to gape at him as he recited each nickname.

"Hm, I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you get the gist of it. Though I can't be called Kakashi of the Sharingan or Hero of the Sharingan now since as you can see," he closed his right eye and left his left eye open, catching all of Team Minato's attention, "I don't have the Sharingan anymore."

_Silence._

Minato couldn't help but stare. He didn't know what to say at all, although hundreds of questions were swimming inside his mind.

_"How?"_

"What happened?"

Obito and 12-year-old Kakashi quietly asked, trying their best to hide their trepidation. Rin looked pale as she clutched her hands to her chest.

48-years-old Kakashi stared at them, assessing their solemn reactions.

"Hm, a lot of things happened in the future. One of them is the devastating Fourth Shinobi World War."

 _"Fourth Shinobi World War?"_ Minato faintly murmured, mind running a mile. They just barely survived the Third War, and there was another?

"B-but, we just went through the Third War!" Rin squeaked in horror.

Older Kakashi immediately waved them off, looking nonchalant. "Maa, don't worry about that. Thanks to my adorable, not-so-little students, that war probably won't happen," he said with an eye-smile.

"Probably?" Minato asked, skepticism visible in his tone.

"Hm, things from the future will be discussed later," Adult Kakashi offered offhandedly.

"So how did you lose my Sharingan?" Obito asked.

"Hm, well, Madara stole it from me!" The older Hatake said cheerfully, _too cheerfully._

 _"Madara did what now!?"_ Obito squeaked indignantly. His Kakashi and Rin exchanged wide-eyed glances, and Minato's blood drained from his face, _again._ It was not the first time that Uchiha Madara was mentioned, but every time his name came up, bad things followed. Seriously, if these kinds of revelations continued on, he might develop an unhealthy blood circulation.

"Well, a lot of things happened in the future and Madara was resurrected during the Fourth Shinobi War and forcefully stole your Sharingan from my eye socket."

Obito turned white as a sheet of paper, "Madara, can be brought back to life?" he whispered, looking horrified.

"Don't worry about that. Madara is dead now, and we'll make sure he stays six feet under," Future Kakashi assured.

Obito nodded reluctantly, a bit unconvinced.

"As I said before, discussions of the future will be addressed later. But if you wanna know how I get my original eye back, maybe you need a demonstration. Naruto?"

The older blond man nodded in understanding.

"Right, I almost forgot." Minato's future-son moved towards Obito and his student flinched in surprise.

"Now, now, don't move Obito-chan. This will be over in no time." The teenager gulped as his hands shook nervously. Minato watched curiously as the man put a hand on his student's damaged eyes.

They were startled when Naruto was suddenly engulfed with golden flames of pure chakra, his pupils had taken on a cross-like shape.

"What in the world…" Young Kakashi uttered in disbelief as he stared at the glowing frame of the man.

"What power… " Minato said in astonishment.

"W-what's that?" Rin asked, voice laced with wonder.

"This is my Six Paths power, the **Yin-Yang** release," The glowing man informed them. He removed his hand from Obito's damaged eye and when he opened it, a pool of onyx greeted them.

Rin gasped. "Obito! You got your eye back!"

Kakashi stared at the golden man in astonishment. "Y-you just restored an eye."

Naruto nodded with a smile, arms crossed and looking proud of himself. He walked back beside his comrades and the shroud of chakra surrounding him vanished immediately.

"Yep, I did. It's one of the powers given to me by the Sage of the Six Paths himself."

They gaped at him _again._

_"THE SAGE OF THE SIX PATHS!?"_

Naruto laughed at the joint exclamation that they unknowingly did. "That's a story for another time," The man said with a wink. Team Minato sweatdropped, exchanging uncertain looks before the younger members of Team Minato decided to leave the questioning for later and gushed over Obito's new eye.

"Amazing! My eye is back for good!" Obito exclaimed happily.

"I can't believe an ability such as this existed! I mean, that's medically impossible!" Rin exclaimed, which garnered a snort from the previously quiet Tsunade.

"You and me both, kids. I'm still sour from that subject," Lady Tsunade scowled. "I'm supposed to be one of the best Medical-Ninja, but this brat bested me in a blink of an eye."

"Ah, forgive me Baa-chan, you know I can't do anything about that," Naruto sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know brat, it doesn't mean that I need to like it," Lady Tsunade grumbled and Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Hm, do you think you can activate your Sharingan in that eye?" Young Kakashi wondered out loud and his teammates looked at him in surprise. Obito's eyes widened in hope and he shifted his eyes towards Naruto.

"Umm, Nanadaime-sama, do you think it's possible?" Obito asked hopefully. The Kage in question hummed in thought.

"Why not try it?" The 33-year-old Kage suggested with a smile.

Obito nodded and proceeded to gather chakra in his left eye. The rest of his team waited in anticipation that morphed into awe and astonishment as the Uchiha's onyx eyes changed into the red and black color of the Sharingan.

"ALRIGHT! I GOT MY SHARINGAN BACK!" Obito jumped in his place and exclaimed in delight. He shifted towards the man who returned his eye and stared at him with too much gratitude, eyes swimming with unshed tears. "Thank you so much Nanadaime-sama!" he bowed deeply and the man put a hand on his head.

"You're welcome, use your ability to protect your precious people," Naruto said with a smile. Obito immediately straightened, he wiped the tears in his eyes and nodded with a newfound determination.

"I will Nanadaime-sama!"

The addressed man laughed, "None of that, we're still down to the Sandaime as of now."

Obito nodded eagerly, readily agreeing with what the man had said. Looking at his not-so-dead-student now, Minato concluded that the teenager would do everything the future-Hokage would say, and all he could do was sigh fondly and send a thankful smile at his future-son.

"Well, now that that's settled. Sensei, do you need to add something?" The blond man asked the adult Kakashi with a raised eyebrow

"Maa, did I forget something?" The silver-haired man hummed as he put a hand under his chin in mock contemplation.

"I guess that's it!" He chirped cheerfully. Future-Kakashi pulled out an orange book from his pouch and proceeded to walk back towards his previous post.

"You forgot to clarify something _very_ important Kaka-Sensei." 48-year-old Kakashi froze mid-step. "Maa, you mentioned it earlier. So it's fine," he said with an eye-smile and resumed his steps towards his original destination but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Surprisingly enough, it was Sasuke-san who dragged his Sensei back. He put his hand on the Hatake's right shoulder and forcefully steered him around to face them. Naruto appeared beside the two and put a hand on Kakashi's left shoulder, rendering any form of escape impossible.

Naruto's lips stretched into a blinding grin as Sasuke-san smirked.

"Team Minato, meet Hatake Kakashi, the Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha!"

"E-EH! YOU SAID IT WAS A FLUKE! YOU GUYS WEREN'T JOKING? How come Kakashi became Hokage! TEME! I thought you don't want to be Hokage!" Obito screeched as he forcefully grabbed younger Kakashi's collar and proceeded to shake him.

"How the hell should I know, you dobe!" Kakashi groused as he pried his teammate's hands from his person.

"Stop it! You two!" Rin exclaimed, looking exasperated.

"Maa Obito, You're the one who told me to be Hokage." The ruckus seized as the addressed teenager looked towards his teammate's older counterpart.

Minato watched the adult Kakashi walk towards Obito and put a hand on top of his head, ruffling the Uchiha's hair as he eye-smiled. Obito stared at the older man in wonder.

"Before you completely left in the future, you left a task to me," the man stared directly at the 14-year-old Uchiha, eyes filled with fondness, "You told me to become Hokage in your stead. Before your spirit left, you reminded me that you told Naruto to be a Hokage. The Nanadaime Hokage, to be exact," Future-Kakashi's smile seemed to widen underneath his mask. "And you ordered me to be the Rokudaime while Naruto trained to become the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever had. It's really like you to demand something from me, even in death."

Obito stared at the man in wonder, cheeks tinged with slight pink as admiration formed in his eyes. He absently nodded as adult Kakashi patted his head one last time.

Minato watched this transpire in awe. He could see it, the fondness and respect vividly projected in the depths of Future-Kakashi's eyes. He couldn't help but wonder what had Obito done to warrant such affection and respect from the older Hatake.

* * *

12-year-old Kakashi was confused. He felt light-headed and in a daze. The rush of information that was revealed tonight was something he never could've imagined. He had to admit though, he was happy for Obito, now he didn't need to worry about him, but still, many things puzzled him. _Everything_ seemed so surreal. Especially his future self. He had a lot of questions and he didn't know where to start. He opened his mouth and closed it again, not finding his voice. He cleared his throat once before he spoke.

"H-hey… Why are you so cheerful?" he asked, brow creased in confusion. The person in front of him was far from his current self, and he couldn't help but feel irritated.

His future self drifted his lazy eyes towards him, and he couldn't help but freeze. There was an underlying power exuding from the man, his eyes full of wisdom.

"Hm, how old are you now?"

Kakashi was startled by his adult self's question.

"12," he mumbled and the man nodded.

"You're 12 years old, still young." He couldn't help but bristle, feeling insulted but he didn't have a chance to say anything because the man continued speaking.

"I'm already 48 years old. I joined ANBU when I was 13, so a year from now. As you know, we lost our father at age 6, the same day we got promoted to Chunin." Kakashi saw his future counterpart's eye glaze over as if he was brought back to the very day that he witnessed their father's death.

"We were 10 when we became Jounin, the same day that Kannabi Bridge happened and Obito _'died'._ You're 12 years old today. In my timeline, when this day happened, there was no time travelers who rescued my team from today's tragedy. Rin died at my hands because no one was there to stop her from jumping on my **Chidori**." Rin's eyes turned downcast in guilt at this revelation.

"At 12 years old, my hands were coated with my friend's blood. I failed to adhere to the promise I made to Obito before he died in the Kannabi bridge mission, and I was called Friend-killer Kakashi… " Team Minato stared at the older version of Hatake Kakashi, seeing the pain, sadness, regrets, and guilt that ate at his soul, and they couldn't help the feeling of despair that clouded their hearts.

Young Kakashi realized then and there that his counterpart didn't live the best lifelike he thought he had. No, it was the opposite. Since he was young, he had experienced tremendous forms of tragedy until he grew older. Through pain and suffering, he gained experience and wisdom. Kakashi understood that this Kakashi had suffered all his life, and he became who he was now because of his experiences.

"At age 14, I lost both Minato-Sensei and Kushina-nee," Minato couldn't hide the wince he made at the mention of his and his wife's death, "And there was nothing left for me but guilt and sorrow. I buried myself in different S-rank missions in ANBU. Assassination after assassination, suicide mission after suicide mission. My life circled around killings, the blood of many others staining my young hands. I lost comrades one after another, while the guilt of my first team ate away at me in solitude and darkness." The man paused, lost in his memories.

"Hm, weren't the best experiences of my life, but they shaped me to become who I am now." Adult Kakashi straightened up as Team Minato watched him quietly, absorbing the things that the man had told them.

His future self made eye contact with his former students and the sorrow reflected in his eyes seemed to disappear.

"Maa, the story of my life I guess. Don't worry about me though, I have precious people now to protect, and I don't have time to wallow in self-pity," his future self said. Young Kakashi couldn't help but feel guilty. He thought that his adult self was a disgrace, when honestly, he was the pitiful one.

"Kakashi-san, I'm sorry…" A hand dropped on top of Rin's head as she mumbled her apology.

"None of that Rin-chan. You're not the Rin of my timeline, and the tragedy has already passed. You're still alive, aren't you? Focus on the present." Rin blushed and absentmindedly nodded.

"Hm, now that that's finished! Let's move on to more important matters." Young Kakashi watched as his older counterpart walked back towards his time-traveling comrades. That made him exchange confused glances with his teammates.

They learned so many things since they met the people from the future, and their minds were still trying to cope with the revelations.

Seriously, Kakashi never felt this tired before, but somehow, he didn't want this meeting to finish. He looked at the tall frame of his future self and he couldn't help the feeling of admiration and pride that engulfed his being.

_'Rokudaime Hokage, huh.'_

* * *

Namikaze Minato never felt so tired in his life. He was already looking forward to returning to his and Kushina's apartment and burying himself in the comforting warmth of his wife, but he knew that this was important.

"Ah, there's more?" Obito asked warily.

The time travelers gave them a smile.

"Of course! You were wondering earlier where Bear-san went to, right?" Naruto said and that reminded Minato of the missing member of this group that Obito managed to get a glimpse of before he lost consciousness.

He exchanged glances with his students before they put their attention back to the time travelers.

"Well, let us introduce you to the rest of the family." Naruto formed a half tiger seal in one hand and mumbled a quiet, _"Kai."_

There was a ripple of chakra and then eleven chakra signatures suddenly appeared as if a veil had been lifted off them. Team Minato's various expressions of shock were visible over the new addition to the group.

"It's about damn time, we were getting bored here, Dad!" A young boy with striking blond hair said.

_'Wait, did that kid just say? Dad!?'_

"Well, Team Minato, let us introduce you to the only survivors of our timeline."

_**To be Continued…** _

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for the long wait. I got stuck editing The Fourth Hokage's Son and I didn't have a chance of writing this chapter, but here it is now. Thank you so much for patiently waiting, I hope this is enough to compensate for my long absence. Let me know your thoughts and probabñy expectation. I wanna hear everyone's opinion. Although please no flames. Flames are hard for new writers also, this story as I said is supposed to be for my satisfaction and entertainment to cure my disappointment with Boruto.

I love to thank my awesome betas who helped me with this fic, I lost a few of them because of the start of the new semester for students but I gain new awesome people. To those who stick with me even though I have long intervals with my updates, THANK YOU!

_**Gheloured, GG Anime, Akaichi-rin, Hakon2feb, Mistress Peverell, TheTerribleWriter78, Regalithy, gpbumann** _

* * *

_**SyrinxSilenus** _


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